South Korean president Lee Jae Myung said it was “very disappointing” that Volodymyr Zelensky had broken confidentiality about the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war, a breach that could carry major security and diplomatic consequences for Seoul.
The Ukrainian president told the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Thursday that Kyiv had sent two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia to South Korea.
Mr Zelensky said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was using his country’s soldiers “like currency” with Russia, and argued that they should not be given more time to fight on the Ukrainian frontlines and gain battlefield experience.
On Friday, Mr Lee said that Mr Zelensky had violated the confidential transfer agreement by making the comments publicly.
“I don’t know why the Ukrainian side broke the agreement and made the matter public but it’s very disappointing,” Mr Lee said on X. “The issue of bringing North Korean prisoners to South Korea is a highly sensitive one that could have a major impact on diplomacy, security and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
Mr Lee said state affairs must be conducted for the benefit of the nation and its people and not for the profit or popularity of an administration or ruler.
The president’s comments came after opposition parties questioned him for hiding the arrival of North Korean soldiers in South Korea.
Opposition lawmaker Yu Yong Weon told reporters on Thursday that the two soldiers had left Ukraine last weekend, transited through a third country, and arrived in South Korea three or four days ago, the state news agency Yonhap reported.
"While their exact location is unknown, I believe our intelligence agencies are protecting them," Mr Yu was quoted as saying.
The South Korean government appeared hesitant to confirm the transfer of prisoners of war after Mr Zelensky’s speech. It could not share any details about the “timing or route” of the possible transfer, it claimed, to protect the safety of the soldiers and their families in North Korea.
South Korea considers all North Koreans as its own citizens and its constitution obligates it to accept defectors and refugees from the rival nation.
North Korea started supplying artillery shells and ammunition to Russia in 2023 and deployed nearly 16,000 soldiers to successfully repel a Ukrainian incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk in 2024, according to South Korean intelligence agencies.
In return, Russia gave North Korea food, oil, and advanced military technologies, helping Pyongyang tide over the impact of international economic sanctions.
In February this year, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service estimated that almost 6,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed or wounded fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky gave few details about the transfer of the soldiers to South Korea but described the alleged circumstances surrounding the capture of one of them.
“These guys aren’t easy to capture alive. One of them, when he realised he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself. And he was shocked that fate did not let him die,” he said.
The row in South Korea triggered by Mr Zelensky’s disclosure comes as Mr Lee’s government is making attempts to revive diplomacy and dialogue with North Korea, and American president Donald Trump is showing willingness to re-engage with Pyongyang.
Mr Lee has proposed talks to officially end the Korean War and suggested a "multi-layered security system" to avoid flare-ups along the de-facto border known as the Demilitarised Zone.
"Let us put down our intentions to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties," he said in August.
