South Korea Recalls Ambassador to Ukraine Over POW Disclosure Dispute

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it would recall its ambassador to Ukraine, escalating a two-week diplomatic dispute that began when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly disclosed the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul. The ministry said it hopes "outstanding issues between the two countries will be resolved amicably" and will continue consultations with Kyiv even as it withdraws Ambassador Park Ki-chang, whose name is also romanized in some reports as Park Hee-chang.

The dispute traces back to two North Korean soldiers captured in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025 while fighting alongside Russian forces, who arrived in South Korea in mid-September 2026 under a transfer both governments had agreed, Seoul says, to keep confidential. Zelensky disclosed the handover during a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 23, prompting an immediate protest from Seoul. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wrote on social media the next day that Ukraine had broken the confidentiality agreement; Kyiv's position, as Meduza reported, is that no such agreement existed.

An apology Seoul calls insufficient

South Korea has said the secrecy was meant to protect the soldiers' relatives still living in North Korea. After Lee's office demanded a formal explanation and apology, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha sent Seoul a response that Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers fell short. "There is a difference from the level we expect, so we intend to take firm measures," Cho said, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, which reported that recalling the ambassador was among the options under review. Sybiha has separately called the episode a "diplomatic misunderstanding" and said he hoped for a swift resolution.

A relationship both sides need

NPR noted that South Korea's government, even while announcing the recall, stressed its intention to preserve existing aid commitments to Ukraine. It remains unclear when Park will formally leave his post or whether Ukraine will respond with a reciprocal recall of its own diplomatic staff in Seoul, whose ambassadorial post there has stood vacant since September 2025. For now, both governments describe the rupture as a protest over process rather than a break in the broader relationship, with working-level consultations expected to continue even as the two countries' senior diplomats trade public criticism over who is owed an apology.