South Korea's President Lee threatens measures against Ukraine over North Korean soldier transfer

SEOUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday threatened unspecified measures against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledged a confidentiality agreement that Seoul claims covered the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers and issued an apology. "If the refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures," Lee stated in a post on X. Lee also expressed "grave regret" over what he described as Ukrainian remarks about an imminent military clash between North and South Korea, stating they amounted to encouraging war on the Korean peninsula. Seoul and Kyiv have been engaged in a diplomatic dispute since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced at the United Nations General Assembly last month that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war captured while fighting for Russia to South Korea. Seoul subsequently accused Kyiv of breaching an agreement to keep the transfer confidential to protect the soldiers, while Ukrainian officials denied any such agreement existed. Kyiv’s embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lee’s remarks. Ukraine was reportedly seeking to mend ties with South Korea, according to Ukrainian media, which quoted Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. "I would not like to call this an incident. Let’s say, it’s a diplomatic misunderstanding," Sybiha told journalists at an event, according to a report on Thursday on news website nv.ua and other media. A senior South Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters on Friday that the countries’ foreign ministers had been discussing how Kyiv could address Seoul’s concerns, including a possible apology, according to South Korean media reports. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Sybiha had been in direct contact and were discussing what level of response Seoul was seeking and what Ukraine could accept, while considering Ukraine’s wartime circumstances and the need to avoid causing either side a loss of face, according to the reports. The dispute arises at a sensitive time for Lee’s administration, which has sought to reduce tensions with North Korea and is also dealing with the political fallout from a recent landmine incident in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas. Cho Han-bum, a senior fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, indicated that any additional measures would likely involve support South Korea already provides to Ukraine, including humanitarian, financial, and reconstruction assistance. "Ukraine has more to lose than South Korea because it is receiving support from Seoul," Cho stated. South Korea has provided humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion and in July pledged an additional $100 million in non-lethal support on the sidelines of the NATO summit. "However, neither side benefits from a prolonged confrontation," Cho noted, emphasizing that South Korea relies on Ukraine for information related to North Korea’s military activities.