South Korea pulls more diplomats from Ukraine amid POW row

South Korea announced on October 20 that it would withdraw more diplomatic personnel from Ukraine, escalating a dispute over the disclosure of a transfer of two North Korean prisoners to Seoul, according to RT. The outlet cited South Korea’s Foreign Ministry as saying that unresolved diplomatic grievances and continuing airstrike risks prompted the decision.

Ministry spokesman Park Doo-soon said Kyiv had not taken the steps Seoul sought despite repeated protests. He presented the withdrawal as an effort to resolve the disagreement and rebuild trust, while also saying that threats of airstrikes made staff safety difficult to guarantee.

Seoul did not announce how many personnel would leave. A chargé d’affaires will remain in Kyiv to maintain diplomatic contacts, and consular staff will continue assisting South Korean citizens. The decision follows the recall of South Korea’s ambassador on October 8.

A disputed promise of secrecy

The disagreement centres on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement at the UN General Assembly in September that two captured North Korean soldiers had been transferred to South Korea. The soldiers were reportedly captured in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025, where North Korean troops were supporting Russian forces against a Ukrainian incursion.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung accused Ukraine of breaking a confidentiality agreement intended to protect the prisoners and their families in North Korea. He argued that public disclosure could put relatives at risk and affect stability on the Korean Peninsula. Lee also maintained that Ukraine had originally requested secrecy.

Ukraine disputes Seoul’s account. Zelenskyy’s adviser Dmytro Lytvyn denied that a confidentiality agreement existed. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha separately characterised the dispute as a misunderstanding over confidentiality arrangements and denied that Kyiv had broken its commitments. The competing accounts do not establish that Ukraine breached an agreement.

Apology dispute remains unresolved

Seoul summoned Ukraine’s acting ambassador to protest and sought both an acknowledgement of the arrangement and a public apology. Earlier in October, Lee warned that further measures would follow if Ukraine did not meet those demands.

Sybiha said last week that the matter was closed and that Ukraine had fulfilled its obligations. South Korea, however, said a Ukrainian message containing apologetic language did not meet its expectations. The additional staff withdrawal indicates that the two governments have not reached a mutually accepted resolution.

The diplomatic row comes against a backdrop of limited South Korean support for Ukraine’s military. Seoul has withheld direct supplies of lethal weapons, citing its policy against arming countries at war, while providing helmets, protective vests and mine detectors, along with humanitarian and financial assistance. It has separately secured major weapons contracts with Poland since the conflict escalated in 2022.