Government summons South Korea's ambassador to Ukraine

The South Korean government decided to summon its ambassador to Ukraine in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's public disclosure of the transfer to South Korea of two North Korean prisoners of war, and made the decision official on the 8th.

The trouble began at last month's UN General Assembly. In his keynote speech, President Zelensky broke the principle of confidentiality agreed between the two countries, revealing that two North Korean POWs secured by Ukraine — identified only as Lee and Baek — had been brought to South Korea.

The government expressed regret and demanded an apology. President Lee Jae-myung also stated on X (formerly Twitter) on the 2nd, "When we asked them to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, they instead expressed serious regret toward Ukraine, which is attempting to provoke a war on the Korean Peninsula."