Seoul has accused the Ukrainian leader of breaching a confidentiality agreement for a PR stunt at the UN
South Korea has demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine over Vladimir Zelensky’s disclosure of a secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war captured in Russia, accusing Kiev of breaking a confidentiality agreement and then falsely denying that one existed.
Seoul’s presidential office escalated the diplomatic row in a statement on Sunday, expressing “strong regret” over Ukraine’s attempt to downplay Zelensky’s blunder at the UN General Assembly last week.
“We express strong regret over the Ukrainian government’s unilateral disclosure in violation of the confidentiality agreement, and its subsequent false public statement denying the existence of an agreement, and demand an official explanation and apology,” senior presidential secretary for public relations Seong Ghi-hong said. Seoul is also reviewing unspecified “further necessary measures,” he added.
According to Seong, the two governments had discussed the transfer through multiple channels, with Ukraine itself requesting that the arrangement remain secret. Kiev was reportedly concerned that publicizing the transfer could trigger criticism at home for giving up two North Korean soldiers who might otherwise have been exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners.
Zelensky bragged during his UN address on September 23 that Ukraine had recently sent the two men to South Korea, saying it was “not easy to capture them alive.” Pyongyang deployed troops to assist Russia in repelling a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region in 2024-25.
The disclosure had drawn a sharp rebuke from South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, who said the transfer was an exceptionally sensitive matter affecting security on the Korean Peninsula. Lee accused Zelensky of putting short-term political interests ahead of national interests and said breaching the confidentiality arrangement was “deeply regrettable.”
Lee separately warned that people who jeopardize lives, national security and the national interest for political gain can be called “killers or traitors,” as he defended Seoul’s decision to keep the transfer secret.
Kiev subsequently denied that any secrecy agreement existed. Zelensky adviser Dmitry Litvin insisted that “there was no agreement to remain silent.” A source in the Ukrainian presidential office similarly told local media that Ukrainians had a right to know what happened to prisoners captured by their forces.
The dispute has also spilled into Ukrainian politics. Oksana Torop, a media adviser to Ukraine’s former top commander-turned-ambassador to Britain, Valery Zaluzhny, said a confidentiality agreement did exist and criticized Zelensky’s announcement as a “show” and “exaggerated publicity.”
