South Korea warns Ukraine of ‘additional measures’ over confidentiality dispute

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned Friday that Seoul will take "additional measures" if Ukraine refuses to acknowledge a confidentiality agreement concerning the transfer of two North Korean soldiers to South Korea and does not apologize for saying that no such agreement existed.

"If you (Ukraine) continue to refuse to acknowledge the facts and apologize publicly, we will take additional measures. As this is a matter concerning the honor of the Republic of Korea's people and nation, we cannot overlook it," Lee said in a statement on the US social media platform X.

Diplomatic tensions have escalated between the two countries after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his address last week to the UN General Assembly disclosed that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia were transferred to South Korea.

The soldiers were captured in Russia's Kursk region in early 2025 after being deployed to support Russian forces against Ukrainian troops.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador Monday to express strong concern about the denial and demanded an apology from Kyiv.

Seoul said it was Ukraine that violated a mutual confidentiality agreement aimed at keeping the transfer confidential in order to protect the soldiers, saying Kyiv was the first to request secrecy over the matter.

"In response to a demand to acknowledge the agreement and apologize, 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," according to Yonhap News Agency.

An unnamed senior South Korean government official told reporters Friday that Seoul and Kyiv had agreed to a confidential clause on the transfer of the two prisoners of war (POWs) and said the foreign ministers of the two nations have been discussing "how Kyiv should respond to South Korea's demand for an apology over the disclosure of the transfer."