No Admission or Apology from Ukraine... Lee Warns: "Further Action if Refused, Cannot Overlook"

On October 2, President Jaemyung Lee issued a warning to Ukraine, stating, "If Ukraine continues to deny the facts and refuses to issue a public apology, we will take further action," and emphasized, "This is a matter concerning the dignity of the people and the nation of the Republic of Korea and cannot be overlooked."

President Lee made these remarks through his X account (formerly Twitter) on this day, expressing "serious regret" towards Ukraine.

President Jaemyung Lee is speaking at the Senior Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House on October 1, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's disclosure of the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war, President Lee pointed out, "It was Ukraine that requested confidentiality, and we agreed to keep matters confidential, yet the Ukrainian side unilaterally made it public. When the President of the Republic of Korea expressed his regrets as courteously as possible, they claimed there was no such agreement, effectively making the head of state of another country into a 'liar.'"

He continued by strongly criticizing, "When asked to acknowledge the existence of an agreement and to apologize, the Ukrainian side instead alluded to the imminent prospect of military clashes between the two Koreas and appeared to incite the possibility of an outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula." This criticism seems to have been directed at Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov's comment that "it's only a matter of time before an uncontrollable incident occurs (on the Korean Peninsula)" in the wake of the repatriation issue.

President Lee, in addition to his demand for an apology, also shared an article containing remarks made by Ukraine’s foreign minister on October 1 (local time). According to the article, Ukrainian Minister Andriy Sybiha was asked about the issue by reporters at an event and commented, "I don't want to call it an incident; let's regard it as merely a diplomatic misunderstanding." However, there was neither an acknowledgement of the facts nor an apology directed at President Lee.

Nevertheless, Minister Sybiha stated, "I sincerely hope this matter is resolved in the very near future and we are working towards that," adding, "Korea is an important country to us." He also expressed, "We strongly hope that the driving force, continuity, and tangible results we are truly building together with Korea will continue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.