Senior Government Official: "Discussing Whether Ukraine Will Apologize for Unilateral Disclosure of POW Repatriation"

On October 2, President Lee Jaemyung demanded a “public apology” from Ukraine, after Ukraine unilaterally released information about the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war. A senior government official stated, “We are currently discussing how the Ukrainian side will make an announcement, including a possible apology.”

The official told reporters at the Government Complex Seoul on the same day, “The specific details and level of the announcement have not yet been agreed upon,” conveying this information. According to this official, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun has been in frequent contact regarding the situation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, exchanging text messages and other communications. However, since Ukraine is at war and the Korean side is demanding an apology for a statement made by their own president, the Korean government is adjusting the level of its demands in consideration of the other country’s position.

The official further reaffirmed that there was “a clear agreement” to keep the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war confidential. He again emphasized that the unilateral disclosure by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his UN speech was an unmistakable “diplomatic discourtesy.” In response to the question of when the Korean government had planned to make the repatriation public, he said, “If possible, we intended to keep it confidential to the end.”

Although an unexpected dispute has arisen between Korea and Ukraine over the disclosure of the POW repatriation, the actual repatriation itself was also the result of successful confidential negotiations between the two countries. The official explained, “We held several working-level consultations, and both foreign ministers maintained the position that the decision would be made in accordance with international law and the Constitution of the Republic of Korea. We stated that this (repatriation) was not to be linked to compensation or any similar issue.”

Earlier that morning, President Lee used his X (formerly Twitter) account to make a strong statement, saying, “With regards to the return of North Korean POWs, the Ukrainian side requested confidentiality, and we agreed, yet they unilaterally made it public. When the president of the Republic of Korea expressed our regret most courteously, they denied any such agreement and essentially portrayed our head of state as a liar.” He further emphasized, “When asked to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, Ukraine instead talked about an ‘imminent inter-Korean military conflict,’ as if hoping for war to break out on the Korean Peninsula. We express our grave disappointment toward Ukraine for this. If Ukraine continues to deny the facts and refuses to issue a public apology, additional measures will be taken. This is a matter concerning the dignity of our nation and our people, and it cannot be taken lightly.”

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha of Ukraine told a local media outlet the previous day (local time), “I do not want to refer to this matter as an ‘incident.’ Let’s describe it simply as a ‘diplomatic misunderstanding.’ I sincerely hope this situation will be resolved very soon, and we are working towards that end. For us, Korea is an important country.”

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