Lee Warns of 'Additional Measures' if Ukraine Continues to Deny POW Confidentiality Deal

President Lee Jae Myung has warned that South Korea will take additional measures if Ukraine continues to deny a nondisclosure agreement regarding the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to South Korea and refuses to apologize. According to Lee, Ukraine had previously demanded confidentiality from South Korea but unilaterally disclosed the transfer, making the head of state of South Korea a "liar" by claiming the agreement did not exist.

The diplomatic wrangle began when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surprisedly disclosed the transfer of two North Korean POWs to South Korea last week. Seoul accused Ukraine of breaching a bilateral agreement to keep the transfer secret, but Ukraine denied the existence of the confidentiality agreement. Lee expressed "serious regret" that Ukraine instead mentioned the possibility of an imminent inter-Korean military conflict, accusing Ukraine of attempting to bring "war on the Korean Peninsula".

Lee made the warning on his X account, stating that if Ukraine continues to deny the fact and refuse to offer an official apology, South Korea will take additional measures. The Korea Times and Yonhap News reported Lee's statements, while KBS World Radio also covered the story, citing Lee's post on X.

Brief written by urgent.news from KBS World Radio, The Korea Times, Yonhap News — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.