South Korea blames Ukraine for leaking details of North Korean prisoner transfer
Photo: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (Getty Images)
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret that Ukraine disclosed information about the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea. According to him, this is a violation of a non-disclosure agreement, as reported by The Korea Times.
"It was appropriate in every aspect not to disclose, considering many problems it may cause when disclosed, and (we) had agreed to do so," Lee Jae Myung wrote on his X account.
"(Ukraine) disclosed the transfer in breach of a non-disclosure agreement. I don't know the reasons (for the disclosure), but I regret it," Lee wrote.
The president emphasized that the issue is extremely sensitive and capable of affecting diplomacy, national security, and the overall situation on the Korean Peninsula. According to him, Seoul and Kyiv initially agreed on a confidential format for the transfer precisely because of the risk of such complications.
According to available information, the parties had been discussing the possibility of transferring the prisoners ever since they themselves expressed the desire to end up in South Korea. Previously, Seoul avoided any official confirmation of their arrival due to concerns for the safety of the prisoners themselves and their relatives who remain in North Korea.
In response to an inquiry from Yonhap News Agency, the Ukrainian side explained that it had disclosed only the fact of the transfer itself, without details of the process - keeping absolutely everything secret, in their view, would have seemed strange.
"Cruel and irresponsible" - this is how Lee described the public disclosure of such information, responding to critics of the confidentiality agreement, regardless of the consequences for inter-Korean relations or even a possible threat to someone's safety.
In conclusion, the president expressed hope that wars, which take the lives of innocent people, will end as soon as possible.
The statement came a day after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, from the stage of the UN General Assembly in New York, announced that Ukraine had recently transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
Bloomberg reported that about 25,000 North Korean citizens may be assembling drones in Russia, particularly in Alabuga - the North Korean authorities pass them off as students to circumvent international sanctions.
In addition, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a letter to the Russian leader, promised to expand and deepen cooperation with Russia.
