Korea to recall ambassador to Ukraine in wake of Russian aid allegation
Korea announced that it would recall its ambassador to Ukraine after a Kyiv official cited a report that stated that Seoul had recently sent fuel to Russia. Korea has denied the claim.
Petrol trucks are parked near oil tanks at a Volodarskaya linear production and dispatching station owned by state-run oil pipeline operator Transneft in the village of Konstantinovo in Moscow on June 8, 2022.REUTERS/YONHAP
South Korea will recall its ambassador to Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, escalating a diplomatic row that began with Kyiv’s disclosure of the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war and now involves Seoul’s alleged fuel shipments to Russia.
“The government has decided to recall its ambassador to Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement. “It hopes that all pending issues between the two countries will be resolved smoothly and will continue consultations with the Ukrainian side to achieve that end.”
Ukraine has accused South Korea of illegally shipping more than 176,000 tons of fuel to Russia in July and August, undercutting Kyiv’s strikes on Moscow refineries to cripple its war effort. According to the South, however, no fuel exports to Russia have officially cleared customs from last year through this August, though it added that petroleum products are not subject to its export controls anyway.
“The list of controlled goods is determined through interagency discussions after comprehensively considering every item’s potential military use, economic impact and international coordination,” the Foreign Ministry said in Thursday’s statement, which was jointly issued by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources and the Korea Customs Agency.
The list covers strategic items — which are outright banned from export to Russia — and 1,402 other products that could potentially be used for military purposes, with the latter requiring case-by-case approval. It does not include petroleum products.
In the same statement, the government also pointed to its track record, noting that its exports to Russia fell to $4 billion in 2025 from $10 billion in 2021 as it joined international export controls “despite the economic burden on [South Korean] companies and the public.”
The most recent dispute was triggered by a report from The Guardian on Tuesday, which claimed that Russia had bought large quantities of petroleum products from South Korea. Basing its conclusions on port records and vessel-tracking data, the report stated that seven tankers carried more than 176,000 metric tons of fuel, mostly diesel, to Russia across 14 shipments from South Korean ports, including Ulsan and Yeosu in Jeonnam-Gwangju, in July and August.
“While the fuel trade involves vessels sanctioned by some of Seoul’s western partners, it does not appear to breach South Korean law,” The Guardian wrote. “The shipments, however, risk making Seoul look like a weak link in western efforts to pressure Russia.”
President Lee Jae Myung, right, shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of their summit at a hotel in Ankara, Turkey, on June 8.YONHAP
That same day, Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Sanctions Policy Vladyslav Vlasiuk cited the report on Facebook, condemning the shipments as “standing in stark contrast to South Korea’s sanctions policy [toward Russia].”
“[South Korea’s] shipments [to Russia] began precisely when Ukrainian strikes […] reduced refining volumes in Russia, causing fuel shortages,” Vlasiuk wrote. “Imports from South Korea effectively helped offset the impact of Russia’s loss of domestic refining capacity.”
But Seoul rejected the claims.
The Foreign Ministry told The Guardian that the government has actually expanded its export controls under the Foreign Trade Act “beyond strategic items to 1,402 nonstrategic items with a high potential for diversion to military use” and was “strictly enforcing” the law.
The government also pushed back against Vlasiuk’s remarks, calling them “inappropriate,” and reaffirmed its support for Ukraine.
“Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the South Korean government has consistently implemented sanctions and export controls against Russia in close coordination with the international community,” said the Blue House in a statement on Wednesday. “Our […] fundamental position remains unchanged.
“Nevertheless, it is inaccurate and inappropriate for an official from the Ukrainian presidential office to publicly claim, citing a […] report based on individual transactions for which key factors — including the parties involved, the origin of the products and the buyers — have not been verified, that South Korea helped ease Russia’s fuel shortages and offset the loss of its refining capacity and thereby acted in a manner inconsistent with its existing sanctions policy toward Russia.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept. 23.YONHAP
Tension between the two countries first arose from Ukraine’s disclosure of the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
During a speech at the United Nations General Assembly last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyrevealed that two North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine during its war with Russia had been repatriated to South Korea.
The South Korean government subsequently stated that Ukraine had violated an agreement to keep the repatriation confidential.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said that they had agreed on the details of the prisoner transfer but clashed over differing interpretations of confidentiality, according to Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine.
Tykhyi said that Kyiv carried out the legal and administrative procedures for the transfer based on the prisoners’ written consent and an agreement in principle between the two countries’ leaders, stressing that granting South Korea’s request was a friendly gesture. His remarks stopped short of the admission and formal apology that Seoul has demanded.
