{
  "id": 10386091,
  "title": "Seoul, Kyiv at odds over secret deal on NK POW transfer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/seoul-kyiv-at-odds-over-secret-deal-on-nk-pow-transfer",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T07:02:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20260928/seoul-kyiv-at-odds-over-secret-deal-on-nk-pow-transfer"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nZelenskyy 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.\n\nSeoul 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.",
  "summary": "South Korea and Ukraine are locked in an unusual diplomatic dispute over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to Seoul, with the two governments giving conflicting accounts of whether they had agreed to keep the move confidential. The dispute escalated, Sunday, as Cheong Wa Dae demanded an official explanation and apology from Kyiv, four days after Ukrainian President…",
  "key_points": [
    "South Korea and Ukraine dispute secret transfer of NK POWs to Seoul.",
    "Ukraine announced transfer during U.N. General Assembly address.",
    "Seoul claims confidentiality agreement, Ukraine denies."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Seoul, Kyiv at odds over secret deal on NK POW transfer",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/seoul-kyiv-at-odds-over-secret-deal-on-nk-pow-transfer-10389805",
        "published": "2026-09-28T07:22:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}