South Korea Demands Apology From Ukraine Over POW Transfer Dispute

On 28 September, South Korea called on Ukraine to apologise after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed to the United Nations General Assembly that Kyiv had handed over two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul, an act Seoul says violated a secrecy pact between the two governments.¹³⁴⁵

Disclosure at the United Nations

Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly that Ukraine had sent two North Korean soldiers to South Korea, soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces. He described the circumstances of their capture, saying the men were not easy to take alive.²⁴¹

Seoul's presidential office, through senior secretary Seong Ghi-hong, said it was seriously concerned by the manner of the disclosure. Seong said Ukraine's public announcement, followed by a denial that any secrecy agreement had existed, undermined trust between the two governments.²⁴¹

President Lee Jae Myung criticised the disclosure directly, writing on social media that he did not understand why Ukraine had broken the agreement and made the matter public.⁴

Denial and defence from Kyiv

Ukraine's presidential office said it had disclosed only the basic fact of the transfer, not the full account, and denied that a formal nondisclosure agreement had existed. South Korea called this denial false.⁴¹

Presidential aide Dmytro Lytvyn defended the disclosure, saying Ukraine operates transparently and that transferring the soldiers covertly would have been out of character.⁴¹

According to one account, Ukraine had in fact discussed the transfer with Seoul repeatedly through various channels and had requested secrecy, partly because public disclosure could expose Kyiv to domestic criticism for having given up a chance to exchange the soldiers for Ukrainian prisoners.⁵

A separate account said the nondisclosure agreement was intended to protect the transferred soldiers themselves from dangers that might follow if the transfer became public.²

The captured soldiers

The two men were captured by Ukrainian forces in Russia's Kursk region, according to one account, in January 2025. One had served in a reconnaissance unit and had been conscripted into the North Korean military at the age of 17. Some North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia's military had received instruction in operating Russian weaponry.²¹

Zelenskyy said the soldiers were difficult to capture alive. Quoting him, one was reported to have tried to take his own life on realising he would be taken prisoner. "These guys are not easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realised he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself," Zelenskyy said, adding, "And he was shocked that fate did not let him die."²

According to one account, the two men later expressed a wish to defect to South Korea and to live ordinary lives there.²⁴¹

Wider context

North Korea has deployed roughly 14,000 to 15,000 soldiers in support of Russia's war effort since 2024, according to one account, with more than 6,000 reported killed in the fighting. Analyst Park Won-gon said North Korea has used the deployment to construct a heroic narrative for domestic propaganda purposes.²¹

South Korea and Ukraine had previously agreed to cooperate on the North Korean POW issue: their foreign ministers reached an understanding in March, and Lee and Zelenskyy discussed the matter again in July at the NATO summit in Ankara. A South Korean spokesperson said both leaders had agreed the soldiers' status should be resolved according to international law.²

South Korea has said it has not supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing a domestic legal restriction on providing military assistance to countries at war. Seoul's presidential office said it is reviewing additional measures in response to the disclosure dispute.¹²⁵