South Korea threatens to cut diplomatic ties with Ukraine over North Korean POW scandal
Photo: South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun (from open sources)
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Tuesday that he does not rule out severing diplomatic ties with Ukraine amid a scandal involving North Korean prisoners of war, according to Koreancenter.
The South Korean foreign minister said he could not rule out breaking off diplomatic relations with Ukraine if the current escalation of tensions continues.
"If the escalation continues, I believe that possibility also exists," Cho Hyun replied when asked whether the current diplomatic crisis with Kyiv was equivalent to a severing of diplomatic ties.
A day earlier, South Korea recalled eight diplomats from Ukraine amid a dispute over the disclosure of information about the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war.
Earlier in October, Seoul also recalled its ambassador to Kyiv, Park Ki-chang, and later decided to reduce the embassy's staff.
Dispute between Kyiv and Seoul
The diplomatic dispute between Kyiv and Seoul escalated after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced at the UN General Assembly on September 23 that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that disclosing the information had violated an agreement to keep it confidential.
Seoul explained that keeping the matter secret was intended to protect the soldiers and their families who remain in North Korea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Presidential Office denied that there had been any agreement to keep the matter confidential.
