foreign ministry-NK POWs

▲ This Sept. 10, 2026, file photo shows the foreign ministry in Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- The foreign ministry on Monday called in Andrii Vieshkin, acting ambassador of Ukraine to South Korea, following Kyiv's revelation of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to Seoul.

Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed during a United Nations address that Ukraine has sent the two North Korean soldiers captured last year 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 a secret to safeguard the soldiers from dangers they could face if their transfer were to be disclosed, citing international law and humanitarian principles.

Soon after, Ukrainian media outlets reported a Ukrainian presidential source as denying the existence of a confidentiality agreement with Seoul.

The move by the foreign ministry comes a day after Cheong Wa Dae expressed "strong regret" over Ukraine's action.

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