Seoul Reaffirms Humanitarian Approach to North Korean POWs Transferred From Ukraine

South Korea’s presidential office has reaffirmed that two North Korean soldiers transferred from Ukraine will be handled according to international law, humanitarian principles and the wishes of the prisoners, as conflicting accounts emerge over whether their transfer was meant to remain confidential.

A presidential official set out Seoul’s position during a press conference in Mexico City, where President Lee Jae Myung was making a state visit. The official declined to respond directly to reports that a Ukrainian presidential source had denied the existence of a confidentiality agreement between the two governments.

Rather than address each reported comment, the official said the South Korean government would maintain a consistent approach based on the prisoners’ wishes, South Korean law, international law and humanitarian considerations. The response keeps the focus on the treatment and safety of the soldiers while avoiding a public dispute with Kyiv over diplomatic communications.

The issue became public after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a United Nations address earlier this week that Ukraine had sent two North Korean soldiers to South Korea. The pair had been captured last year while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Lee and his office have said Ukraine’s disclosure breached a nondisclosure agreement intended to protect the soldiers. Seoul’s explanation is that publicizing the transfer could expose them to danger, making discretion part of the government’s legal and humanitarian response. Ukrainian media later cited a Ukrainian presidential source disputing that such an agreement existed.

The disagreement adds a sensitive diplomatic dimension to a case already shaped by the soldiers’ nationality, their status as prisoners of war and the circumstances of their capture. Seoul’s latest statement does not resolve the competing accounts of what the two governments agreed. It instead establishes the principles South Korea says will guide its decisions now that the soldiers are in the country.

The presidential office also avoided disclosing further details about the two soldiers or their current circumstances. That restraint is consistent with Seoul’s stated concern that publicity could create risks for them. The government’s emphasis suggests that any next steps will be weighed against the individuals’ preferences as well as South Korean and international legal obligations.

For Seoul, the immediate task is therefore both humanitarian and diplomatic: safeguarding the transferred soldiers while managing an unusual disagreement with Ukraine over how and when the case was revealed.