South Korea Warns ‘Further Measures’ if Ukraine Refuses Public Apology

South Korea’s leader warned Friday of unspecified “further measures” if Ukraine did not apologize for revealing that Kyiv had sent North Korean prisoners of war to the South. Seoul has already summoned Ukraine’s ambassador in the diplomatic row over the disclosure that South Korea said could expose the POWs’ families to risk in the North.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last week at the UN General Assembly the handover of the two North Korean troops who were captured while fighting for Russia. South Korea maintains it had a confidentiality agreement with Ukraine over the transfer, which Kyiv has not officially acknowledged. “If Ukraine continues to refuse to acknowledge the facts and publicly apologize, we will take further measures,” said South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, accusing Kyiv of making him out to be a “liar.” Lee did not elaborate on what further measures could include. Ukraine’s embassy in South Korea did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The South Korean leader has already spoken up against Zelensky’s comments, and Seoul has demanded an official apology from Ukraine, citing concerns for the safety of the POWs’ families in North Korea. “This is a matter concerning the dignity of the Republic of Korea and its people and cannot be overlooked,” Lee posted on X on Friday. Analysts say that from South Korea’s perspective, keeping the transfer of the POWs confidential may have partly been for Ukraine’s sake, as making it public could have complicated Kyiv’s own prisoner exchanges with Russia. Other Topics of Interest Russia Turns Its Drone War on Kyiv’s Dnipro Bridges – Why Now? Repeated strikes on Kyiv’s Southern Bridge signal a new phase in Russia’s drone campaign – one aimed at disrupting the capital’s daily movement. In domestic South Korean politics, Seoul’s approach “could prove problematic,” Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University, told AFP, given the current administration’s dovish approach to the nuclear-armed North. “The government has acted swiftly in this case involving Ukraine, while exercising extreme caution over the North Korean landmine incident (that injured South Korean soldiers). That contrast could leave the public deeply dissatisfied.” Under Seoul’s constitution, all North Koreans are considered citizens of the Republic of Korea, as the South is officially known, and those who reach its territory and seek to defect are generally allowed to stay. Analysts say the current Lee government’s broader push to ease tensions with Pyongyang may also have given it reason to avoid turning the POWs’ defection into a public spectacle. - ‘Diplomatic misunderstanding’ - Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga told a briefing Thursday that he would “not like to call it an incident”, describing it instead as a “diplomatic misunderstanding”. “I very much want this situation to be resolved in the short term, and we are working on this. For us, South Korea is an important country,” he added. Both POWs are identifiable as they had been photographed by South Korean media before their arrival in South Korea. North Korea is known to retaliate against defectors and their families. Seoul’s spy agency said that Zelensky may have disclosed the transfer of the North Korean soldiers to boost public support in South Korea for Seoul providing arms to Ukraine, a lawmaker said Wednesday. South Korea has in recent years emerged as a major arms exporter -- particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 -- including through a multibillion-dollar arms deal with Poland. But it has refrained from supplying Kyiv with lethal weapons, citing its longstanding policy of not arming countries engaged in active conflicts.