Lee warns Ukraine over North Korean POW disclosure, seeks public apology

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has threatened unspecified punitive steps against Ukraine if it does not apologise over President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's disclosure of a supposedly secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. The row has opened a diplomatic rift between Seoul and Kyiv, with South Korea saying Ukraine broke a non-disclosure agreement and Ukraine denying that any such deal existed.

The transfer of the two soldiers last month has come at a sensitive time for Seoul, which is trying to improve ties with Pyongyang. Analysts, however, say Lee's warning is unlikely to lead to any major hostile move, as South Korea's ties with Ukraine remain important for its wider security and diplomatic interests.

The two North Korean soldiers were among thousands of troops sent by North Korea to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine. Their transfer could complicate Seoul's push for talks with Pyongyang, as North Korea has in the past reacted angrily to defections by its citizens and accused the South of kidnapping them. "Our government's policy is restoring severed dialogue with North Korea and easing tensions ... So it wanted to handle the POW issue in a low-key manner," said Moon Seong Mook of the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for Strategy.

Lee has said his government has been making coordination efforts to resume talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, in the hope that this would help restart Seoul's own dialogue with the North and improve peace on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has so far brushed aside Trump's latest overture, which came after the US scaled back a military exercise with South Korea in August that Kim sees as a rehearsal for invasion. South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Wednesday that it believed there was about a 50 per cent chance of US-North Korea talks taking place around November, when Trump plans to visit Asia for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China.

At the same time, recent mine explosions at the Korean border that injured three South Korean soldiers have added to tensions. South Korea blamed mines planted by North Korea and demanded an apology as well as a halt to its border fortification work. On Friday, Kim's sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong called the South Korean demand "utterly pathetic," and said the North intends to cut ties with the South permanently.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Lee accused Ukraine of making him look like "a liar" by contradicting his earlier claim about the non-disclosure agreement. He said his government would take "additional measures" if Ukraine refused to admit the agreement existed and apologise publicly. "This is a matter of national dignity ... so we can't overlook it," Lee wrote. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Thursday described the dispute as "a diplomatic misunderstanding." He said he had been in daily contact with his South Korean counterpart and added: "I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term." South Korean officials say Zelenskyy likely made the transfer public to build support in South Korea for missile defence and other weapons systems for Ukraine.

Lee's office had earlier said the alleged non-disclosure accord was reached because Kyiv was concerned about possible domestic criticism for losing a chance to use the North Korean soldiers in future prisoner exchanges with Russia. It said Seoul was worried about the safety of the soldiers and their families, as well as other foreign policy and security concerns. Even so, experts said Lee's warning was probably not intended to signal any major step such as cutting aid to Ukraine. "In view of our international standing, following through on our commitment to provide support isn't only a matter of bilateral ties with Ukraine. The international community is watching us," Moon said.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said South Korea's relationship with Ukraine matters in several ways. "Kyiv also has valuable intelligence about Russia-North Korea military cooperation and extensive battlefield experience, especially with drones, that can contribute to South Korean security," he said. "If the Lee administration appears to prioritise possible reactions of Kim and Putin over cooperation with Ukraine, it could raise questions among Western partners -- with which Seoul has more significant economic and security relationships, including substantial defence trade," he added.

South Korea has provided USD 445 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 2022. In July, Lee pledged another USD 100 million during a meeting with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkiye. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it would continue to explore ways to help Ukraine through humanitarian and reconstruction support, while maintaining its policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively involved in conflict. The dispute over the North Korean POWs has sharpened tensions between Seoul and Kyiv, but South Korea's broader interests suggest both sides will seek a resolution.

With PTI Inputs

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