South Korea warns of ‘additional measures’ if Ukraine refuses to apologise over POW transfer disclosure

Seoul, Oct 2 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that South Korea will take “additional measures” should Ukraine continue to refuse to officially apologise for denying its agreement to keep the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) secret.

The South Korean president issued the warning on his X account amid a diplomatic wrangle with Ukraine over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s surprise disclosure last week of the transfer of two North Korean POWs to South Korea.

Seoul has since accused Ukraine of breaching a bilateral agreement to keep the transfer secret, but Ukraine has denied the existence of the confidentiality agreement, Yonhap News Agency reported.

“If (Ukraine) continues to deny the fact and refuse to offer an official apology, (Seoul) will take additional measures,” Lee said.

Lee affirmed that Ukraine unilaterally disclosed the transfer despite having previously demanded confidentiality from South Korea, and then made the head of state of the counterpart country a “liar” by saying the nondisclosure agreement did not exist.

“In response to a demand to acknowledge the agreement and apologise, it has instead mentioned (the possibility of) an imminent inter-Korean military conflict,” Lee said, accusing Ukraine of attempting to bring “war on the Korean Peninsula” and expressing “serious regret.”

“As it is a matter related to the dignity of the South Korean people and the country, I cannot remain silent on it,” the president said.

Lee’s warning came shortly after a social media message by Kyrylo Budanov, Zelensky’s chief of staff, referring to the mine incident.

“The situation is becoming more tense by the day. And it is only a matter of time before a trigger event could occur, leading to uncontrollable consequences,” Budanov wrote.

South Korean sources said the additional measures Lee warned of may include recalling the country’s Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang as an expression of protest.

Appearing on a radio program earlier in the day, Lee’s new special adviser for peace diplomacy Rep. Song Young-gil indicated that the next step would be to recall the country’s ambassador after lodging a complaint with the Ukrainian envoy in Seoul earlier this week, if Kyiv does not respond.

–IANS

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