South Korea has received an apology from Ukraine over the disclosure of information concerning the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul. However, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said the apology “does not meet expectations,” according to reports.

“I have remained in close contact with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on this matter, and he explained how complicated the situation is,” Cho Hyun said when lawmakers asked whether Ukraine had apologized.

According to him, the messages he received from Sybiha “included apologies.”

“But there is a gap between those apologies and the level we expected, so we intend to take firm measures,” the South Korean foreign minister said.

He added that the government is considering several possible responses, including recalling South Korea’s ambassador to Ukraine, Park Hee-chan, as suggested by one lawmaker.

Cho Hyun reiterated that there had been an agreement from the outset to keep the transfer of the prisoners confidential in order to protect the servicemen and their families who remain in North Korea. He noted that the Ukrainian side had initially asked for the information not to be made public.

Asked why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed the transfer of the prisoners, the South Korean minister suggested that Zelensky may have wanted to demonstrate to the United Nations that Ukraine had acted appropriately as a liberal democracy. Cho Hyun stressed that this was only his personal interpretation.

Prisoner transfer dispute

South Korea previously accused Ukraine of disregarding a confidential agreement concerning North Korean prisoners. The dispute emerged after the Ukrainian president publicly revealed during an address to the UN General Assembly that two captured North Korean soldiers had been transferred to Seoul.

Seoul is reportedly seeking an official apology from Ukraine for violating the agreement to keep the transfer of the North Korean prisoners secret. Zelensky’s adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, sought to downplay the disclosure, saying that the president had only confirmed the transfer of the soldiers to South Korea. He argued that Ukraine is an “open country” and that a secret transfer of soldiers would appear “unusual.”

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service had stated that Ukraine was the first side to request confidentiality over the handover of the North Korean prisoners. Kyiv was reportedly concerned that the operation could have consequences for possible future negotiations on prisoner exchanges.