Seoul Spy Agency Says Ukraine First Requested Secrecy Over North Korean POW Transfer

South Korea’s intelligence agency said Wednesday that Ukraine was the first to request confidentiality over the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers to the South, adding a new official account to a dispute that has strained relations between Seoul and Kyiv.

The National Intelligence Service told the National Assembly’s intelligence committee that the two governments shared an understanding from the beginning of the transfer process that the operation would remain secret, according to lawmakers who attended the closed-door briefing.

The agency also said the two soldiers arrived in South Korea in mid-September and had no major health problems. Their arrival had not been publicly confirmed by Seoul before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the transfer during an address to the United Nations last week.

The soldiers were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting alongside Russian troops. Their transfer became a sensitive diplomatic issue because of potential risks to the men and their relatives in North Korea, as well as the wider security implications for the Korean Peninsula.

President Lee Jae Myung and his office have said Ukraine violated a nondisclosure agreement by announcing that the soldiers had been sent to South Korea. Seoul has maintained that confidentiality was intended to protect the individuals involved and avoid complications in diplomacy and national security.

A Ukrainian presidential official later denied that a nondisclosure agreement existed, deepening the disagreement between the two governments. The conflicting accounts prompted South Korea to seek an explanation from Kyiv.

On Monday, the Foreign Ministry summoned Andrii Vieshkin, Ukraine’s acting ambassador in Seoul, and conveyed strong concern over Ukraine’s denial of the confidentiality arrangement. The ministry’s move underscored the seriousness with which the South Korean government views both the original disclosure and the subsequent public dispute over what the two sides had agreed.

The intelligence agency’s briefing gives lawmakers a more specific timeline and attributes the initial request for secrecy to Ukraine. It also confirms that the soldiers reached South Korea in mid-September and were not suffering from major health issues at the time described by the agency.

The episode now carries implications beyond the transfer itself. Seoul and Kyiv must manage a public disagreement over diplomatic trust while protecting two former North Korean soldiers whose identities, location and future arrangements remain highly sensitive.