Seoul, Kyiv at odds over secret deal on NK POW transfer

South Korea and Ukraine are currently embroiled in a diplomatic dispute regarding the secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to Seoul. Both nations have presented conflicting accounts regarding their agreement to maintain the confidentiality of the transfer. The disagreement intensified on Sunday, with South Korea's Cheong Wa Dae requesting an official explanation and apology from Ukraine.

This dispute arose just four days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the transfer during his address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine had "recently" sent two North Korean POWs to South Korea, approximately 20 months after their capture in Russia's Kursk region. These individuals were among thousands of North Korean soldiers who had been deployed to support Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine since 2024. The two POWs had expressed a desire to be transferred to South Korea, rather than being repatriated to North Korea.

Seoul maintains that both parties had agreed to keep the transfer confidential, whereas Kyiv asserts that no such agreement was reached. The conflicting claims began to surface on Thursday, one day after Zelenskyy's speech. On that day, South Korean officials took to social media to express dissatisfaction with the situation.