South Korea Withdraws More Diplomats From Ukraine

By Staff, Agencies

South Korea is withdrawing additional diplomatic staff from Ukraine amid a dispute over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s disclosure of a purportedly confidential transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced.

The dispute erupted after Zelensky announced the transfer during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in September. Seoul maintains that the operation was supposed to remain confidential, while Ukrainian officials deny that any such agreement existed.

The two servicemen were reportedly captured in January 2025 in Russia’s Kursk Region, where North Korean troops assisted Russian forces in repelling a Ukrainian incursion.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Park Doo-soon announced the withdrawal at a press briefing on Tuesday, saying Kiev had failed to take “positive steps” to resolve the dispute despite repeated diplomatic protests.

“This measure was taken because we judged it necessary to facilitate an amicable resolution of the issue and restore trust between the two countries,” Park said. He also cited persistent threats of airstrikes across Ukraine, which have complicated efforts to ensure diplomatic personnel’s safety.

Seoul did not disclose how many staff members would leave. A chargé d’affaires will remain in Kiev to maintain diplomatic contacts, while consular personnel will continue assisting South Korean nationals.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung accused Kiev of violating a confidentiality agreement intended to protect the prisoners and their families in North Korea.

He warned that disclosing the transfer could endanger their relatives and undermine stability on the Korean Peninsula, insisting that Ukraine had initially requested secrecy.

Earlier this month, Lee warned that Seoul would take additional measures if the Ukrainian government continued to refuse to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology.

The dispute intensified after Zelensky’s adviser Dmitry Litvin denied that any confidentiality agreement existed. Seoul subsequently summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador to lodge a formal protest and demanded that Kiev acknowledge the arrangement and apologize publicly.

South Korea recalled its ambassador from Kiev on October 8 after its demands went unanswered, marking the first such withdrawal in 18 years as a diplomatic protest.

South Korean media have reported that roughly half of the embassy’s staff are now expected to leave the Ukrainian capital.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga has described the dispute as a “diplomatic misunderstanding” and said he was working to resolve it. He denied that Kiev had breached its commitments, attributing the standoff to differing interpretations of the alleged confidentiality arrangements.