South Korea to withdraw about half of embassy staff from Ukraine amid POW dispute

In their own words

Grouped by where each speaker is from. Quotation marks are the speaker's own words; other lines are our summaries.

Where accounts differ

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Other voices

Reactions from other countries and bodies, others involved, and commentary.

Timeline

1. January 2025

   Ukrainian forces captured the two soldiers in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025 while they were fighting for Russia, officials said.

   Sources: Yonhap News Agency

   Supporting statements

   Officials said the two soldiers were captured in January 2025 while fighting for Russia in Kursk and arrived in South Korea in mid-September.

2. mid-September 2026

   Officials said the prisoners arrived in South Korea in mid-September 2026.

   Sources: Yonhap News Agency

   Supporting statements

   Officials said the two soldiers were captured in January 2025 while fighting for Russia in Kursk and arrived in South Korea in mid-September.

3. September 23, 2026

   Zelenskyy disclosed the transfer during his UN General Assembly address on September 23, 2026.

   Sources: The Hankyoreh · Meduza

   Supporting statements

   Zelensky disclosed the repatriation to South Korea of two North Korean prisoners of war at the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on September 23.

   Zelensky said at the UN General Assembly on September 23 that Ukraine had transferred two North Koreans, captured in early 2025, to South Korea.

4. September 24, 2026

   Lee criticized the disclosure on September 24, 2026, calling it a breach of a confidential agreement and very regrettable.

   Sources: Asahi Shimbun

   Supporting statements

   Lee said he did not know why Ukraine had publicly disclosed the matter in violation of a confidential agreement and called the disclosure very regrettable.

   As quoted in Japanese, with a machine translation

   “非公開の合意を破って公開したウクライナ側にどんな事情があるのかは分からないが、非常に残念だ”

   Machine translation: “I don’t know what circumstances led the Ukrainian side to make public an agreement that was not to be disclosed, but it is very regrettable.”

5. September 27, 2026

   South Korea's presidential office demanded an explanation and apology from Ukraine on September 27, 2026.

   Sources: South China Morning Post · CNews

   Supporting statements

   South Korea’s presidential office demanded an official explanation and apology from Ukraine.

   After his September 24 speech before the UN General Assembly, Zelensky was accused of disclosing sensitive information concerning the two Koreas.

6. October 2, 2026

   Lee warned on October 2, 2026 that South Korea would take additional measures if Ukraine continued to deny the agreement and refused to apologize.

   Sources: Yonhap News Agency

   Supporting statements

   “If (Ukraine) continues to deny the fact and refuse to offer an official apology, (Seoul) will take additional measures”

   Lee issued the warning on his X account.

7. October 6, 2026

   Cho Hyun said during an audit on October 6, 2026 that messages from Sybiha included an apology, but it fell short of Seoul's expectations.

   Sources: Yonhap News Agency · The Kyiv Independent (via Yonhap News Agency)

   Supporting statements

   “Messages that I received (from Sybiha) included an apology.”

   “But there is a difference from the level we expect, so we intend to take firm measures”

   Cho said Kyiv had apologized over disclosure of the prisoner transfer, but the apology did not meet Seoul's expectations.

8. October 8, 2026

   South Korea's Foreign Ministry said on October 8 it would recall its ambassador to Ukraine.

   Sources: Yonhap News Agency · Yonhap News Agency

   Supporting statements

   “The government has decided to recall its ambassador to Ukraine to Seoul”

   South Korea decided to recall Ambassador Park Ki-chang from Ukraine as a diplomatic protest.

9. October 10, 2026

   Park Ki-chang returned to South Korea on October 10, 2026.

   Sources: The Hankyoreh

   Supporting statements

   Park Gi-chang returned to South Korea on the morning of October 10, two days after the recall decision.

   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Park had returned that morning.

10. October 12, 2026

    Sybiha said on October 12, 2026 that he considered the dispute closed and attributed it to differing interpretations of confidentiality requirements.

    Sources: The Hankyoreh (via RBC Ukraine)

    Supporting statements

    Sybiha said he considered the matter resolved.

    Sybiha said the issues arose from differing interpretations of confidentiality requirements at various stages of the prisoners' transfer.

    As quoted in Korean, with a machine translation

    “모든 문제는 포로 송환의 여러 단계에서 기밀 유지 요건에 대한 해석 차이에서 비롯됐다”

    Machine translation: “All the problems stemmed from differing interpretations of confidentiality requirements at various stages of the prisoner repatriation process.”

11. October 18, 2026

    At the parliamentary audit on October 18, 2026, Yoon said the governments had not discussed a disclosure timeline but that many favored keeping the transfer confidential as long as possible.

    Sources: Yonhap News Agency

    Supporting statements

    Yoon says the two sides did not discuss when to disclose the POW transfer, and many favored keeping it undisclosed for as long as possible.

    As quoted in Korean, with a machine translation

    “언제 공개할지는 서로 전혀 얘기하지 않았고 비공개 상태로 최대한 오래 유지되면 좋겠다는 의견이 많았다”

    Machine translation: “We never discussed at all when it would be made public, and many felt it would be good to keep it confidential for as long as possible.”

12. October 20, 2026

    South Korea decided on October 20, 2026 to withdraw roughly half its embassy staff from Ukraine, citing airstrike threats and the lack of constructive steps by Kyiv.

    Sources: The Korea Herald

    Supporting statements

    “…the absence of any constructive steps by the Ukrainian side following the recall of our ambassador”

    “…the persistent threat of airstrikes across Ukraine, which makes it difficult to ensure their safety”

    The Foreign Ministry plans to withdraw approximately half of its embassy staff.

Coverage

Each outlet's headline, linked to its article. Non-English headlines are machine-translated. The groupings and notes on what each outlet emphasises are automated.

Our outlets in North Korea and Poland didn't cover it. No statements from the government or officials of Russia, North Korea, United States or Poland are in our sources.

More detail

Written by our automated pipeline from the statements in the coverage; each point lists the statements it rests on.