South Korea's president says Ukraine broke a non-disclosure deal by announcing transfer of two North Korean POWs
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung publicly regretted that Ukraine disclosed the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul, calling it a breach of a non-disclosure agreement. He posted his statement on X on Thursday, a day after Volodymyr Zelensky announced the transfer during his address to the UN General Assembly. Ukraine's Presidential Office said it revealed only the fact of the transfer, not details of how it was carried out.
Key points
- Lee Jae-myung said Ukraine violated a non-disclosure agreement by publicly disclosing the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers.
- Lee posted the statement on X on Thursday, the day after Zelensky's UN General Assembly address; it was Seoul's first official confirmation of the transfer.
- The two POWs — 21-year-old Pek and 26-year-old Ri — were captured in Russia's Kursk Oblast in January 2025.
- Both prisoners expressed a written wish to move to South Korea; those requests were reported in December 2025.
- Ukraine's Presidential Office told Yonhap it disclosed only the fact of the transfer, not process details, and called keeping the whole operation secret "strange."
- Under South Korea's constitution, North Koreans are citizens of the country and Seoul is obligated to accept them if they wish.
- In late May 2025, South Korea asked that the two POWs not be included in 1000-for-1000 prisoner-exchange lists.
Why it matters
The episode marks the first time Seoul has officially confirmed the transfer and surfaces a diplomatic friction between Ukraine and South Korea over how to handle security-sensitive bilateral matters. It tests whether high-profile announcements at the UN General Assembly can be coordinated with quieter understandings between capitals, and it touches on the legal status of North Korean citizens under the Republic of Korea's constitution.
What happened
On Wednesday, Volodymyr Zelensky used his address to the UN General Assembly to announce that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea. The next day, Thursday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung posted a statement on X saying he regretted the disclosure and that Kyiv had violated a non-disclosure agreement. Lee noted that the issue is very sensitive and could seriously affect diplomacy, national security, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. His statement was the first official confirmation from Seoul that the transfer had taken place; until then, the South Korean government had declined to confirm the POWs' arrival, citing threats to their security and to family members remaining in the North. Ukraine's Presidential Office, responding to a Yonhap inquiry, said it had disclosed only the fact of the transfer itself, without process details, and that keeping the whole operation secret would have been strange. It added that the transfer had been carried out through direct dialogue with Seoul.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage centers on the criticism directed at Zelensky and frames the story around Seoul's reproach and the accusation that Kyiv disclosed a secret operation. Reporting foregrounds the Presidential Office's response defending the disclosure as limited to the bare fact of the transfer and carried out through direct dialogue with Seoul.
How international sources describe it
The English-language Hong Kong outlet frames the episode as a propaganda blow to North Korea, emphasizing the impact on Pyongyang rather than the diplomatic friction between Seoul and Kyiv. International coverage gives more weight to the geopolitical consequences for the Korean Peninsula and to the broader implications of confirming North Korean involvement in the war.
Where reporting differs
Lee Jae-myung characterized Ukraine's disclosure as a violation of a non-disclosure agreement. Ukraine's Presidential Office said it disclosed only the bare fact of the transfer without process details and argued that keeping the entire operation secret would have been strange.
Background
The two North Korean POWs — 21-year-old Pek and 26-year-old Ri — were captured in Kursk Oblast in January 2025. Both expressed a written wish to move to South Korea; those requests were reported in December 2025. Under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, North Koreans are citizens of the country and Seoul is obligated to accept them on its territory if they wish. Until Lee's statement, the South Korean government had declined to confirm the POWs' arrival, citing threats to their security and to family members remaining in the North. In late May 2025, South Korea asked that the North Korean POWs not be included in 1000-for-1000 prisoner-exchange lists. In June 2026, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said it was ready to accept all North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine who wished to come, and opposed their forced return to Russia or North Korea.