Ukraine embassy says Kyiv cannot deny secret deal on North Korean POW repatriation

South Korea's embassy in Ukraine said Sunday (local time) that Seoul and Kyiv had shared an understanding to keep their discussions on repatriating North Korean prisoners of war as confidential as possible, and that Ukraine is now in no position to deny a confidentiality agreement existed.

Yoon Ji-wan, chargé d'affaires at the embassy, made the remarks at the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's national audit held at the embassy in Poland. "There was never any discussion about when to go public — the prevailing view was that it would be best to keep it quiet for as long as possible," Yoon said.

Yoon said the embassy had no advance knowledge that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would publicly announce the repatriation of North Korean POWs to South Korea during his speech at the UN General Assembly last month. He added that Ukraine has yet to offer any specific explanation for why it went public.

"We requested an apology and consider that a sufficiently clear apology has not been made," Yoon said, while also noting that "Ukraine is taking the position expressed by our government and president very seriously." He added that the embassy was continuing to convey its position in line with instructions, and that Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working through internal consultations to reach a positive resolution.

On Zelensky's decision to publicly disclose the POW repatriation, Yoon suggested that even Ukrainian officials handling the matter at the working level may not have been fully informed. He indicated that the content of the UN speech had not been properly shared in advance within Ukraine's own diplomatic channels.

Yoon said there were many critical voices within Ukraine itself over the impromptu breach of the confidentiality agreement. "Ukraine is no longer pushing back. We understand they are in a position where they cannot deny that a confidentiality agreement existed," he said.

Asked whether the diplomatic dispute arose because the confidentiality agreement had not been firmly documented in writing, Yoon said, "Putting a diplomatic agreement in writing is, in effect, a treaty."

The national audit covered the embassies in Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Yoon appeared via video link in his capacity as chargé d'affaires after the government recalled Ambassador Park Ki-chang amid the dispute over the North Korean POW repatriation.