(LEAD) foreign ministry-NK POWs

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

(ATTN: ADDS details from ministry's statement)

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.

First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo conveyed Seoul's stern stance on the issue to Vieshkin, the ministry said in a statement.

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.

Park expressed strong concern over Ukraine's denial of the confidentiality agreement with South Korea, saying such an action gravely damages mutual trust and affects the friendly ties of the two countries, the ministry said.

The vice minister called for Ukraine's official clarification and apology over its move, to which the Ukrainian envoy said he will accurately report on Seoul's stance to Kyiv, it added.

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

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