S Korea-NK POWs

▲ This image shows Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul. (Yonhap)

MEXICO CITY, Sept. 26 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office has again stressed the need to apply international law and humanitarian principles in dealing with North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) after Ukraine disclosed the transfer of two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine to South Korea.

The response from Cheong Wa Dae came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed during a United Nations address earlier this week that Ukraine sent the two North Korean soldiers captured last year during the war with Russia to South Korea.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his office have since said Ukraine breached a nondisclosure agreement aimed at keeping the transfer secret to safeguard the soldiers from dangers it could cause if their transfer were disclosed, citing international law and humanitarian principles.

Subsequently, Ukrainian media outlets were reported to have quoted a Ukrainian presidential source as denying the existence of a confidentiality agreement with South Korea.

In a press conference Friday in Mexico City, where Lee is on a state visit, a South Korean presidential official declined to comment on Ukraine's reported denial of the nondisclosure deal, saying it would be inappropriate to react to every comment by a source.

The official, instead, said, "It is our government's stance to respond to (the matter) with consistency in consideration of (the POWs') wishes, our and international law and humanitarian principles."

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