South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed regret that Ukraine publicly disclosed the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
According to Lee, Kyiv and Seoul had agreed to keep the information confidential because of the potential consequences of its disclosure. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the transfer during his speech at the UN General Assembly, The Korea Times reported.
“We agreed on this. Ukraine disclosed the transfer in violation of the nondisclosure agreement. I don’t know the reason, but I regret it,” Lee Jae Myung said.
During his speech, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had transferred to South Korea two North Korean prisoners of war who had fought alongside Russia. According to him, one of them had attempted to take his own life.
The Ukrainian president also said that North Korean soldiers are being convinced that they are expected to die in the war, while Kim Jong Un is using his troops as a “bargaining chip.”
“Why should North Korea fight Ukraine? Kim Jong Un uses them as a bargaining chip and gets something in return. And North Korea, and probably all countries in Asia, have already noticed how Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles and drone capabilities have improved. A war that was not stopped in time spreads further,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian President’s Office also explained why Zelenskyy decided to publicly disclose the transfer despite Seoul’s position that the information should remain confidential.
Presidential adviser Dmytro Lytvyn said Ukraine had not revealed details of the operation and had only confirmed that the prisoners had been transferred.
“We are an open country, and it would have been strange to simply secretly hand over somewhere these people whom our soldiers had taken prisoner. So, out of the entire story — and it is long and detailed — we disclosed only the fact that they had been sent to the Republic of Korea,” Lytvyn said.
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