Seoul poised to take 'further measures' if no public apology issued by Kyiv for POW disclosure
President Lee Jae Myung said South Korea may take further measures unless Ukraine publicly apologizes for revealing the transfer of two North Korean POWs.
Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, right, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha shake hands during their bilateral talks at the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jongno District, central Seoul, on June 30.NEWS1
Seoul will take "further measures" if Kyiv does not issue a public apology soon for its unilateral disclosure of the recent transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POW) to South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung warned in an X post on Friday.
“We expressed our disappointment as politely as possible, only for [Ukraine] to deny that any agreement had been reached and effectively making [South Korea’s] leader a liar,” President Lee said in his post. Ukraine has maintained that no such confidentiality agreement had ever existed.
Seoul is currently in talks with Kyiv over a response from Ukraine, such as an apology, a senior Foreign Ministry official said during a briefing at the government complex in central Seoul the same day.
“There hasn’t been an agreement on the details and tone of the announcement yet,” the official said.
The official added that South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun has continued communicating with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha through text messages.
The official reiterated with certainty that "there was an agreement to keep the matter confidential” between South Korea and Ukraine, stressing that there had never been any plan to make the transfer of the POWs public.
The official declined to comment on what measures Seoul is considering if Kyiv doesn't apologize.
When asked whether the recent contention over the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, part of South Korea’s $200 billion investment pledge to the United States, will affect any future security negotiations between the two countries, the official said that there had never been any “disagreement” over the project and that it would “most likely not emerge as a major sticking point.”
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on Sept. 23.AFP/YONHAP
“We simply didn’t have enough time to fully review Washington’s proposals concerning Alaska, including their commercial viability,” the official said. “So, we agreed to make the announcement as it stands.”
South Korea’s Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan has made it clear to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that Seoul would go through all the relevant procedures before moving forward, the official said.
The Alaska LNG project has recently become the center of dispute between Seoul and Washington. Lutnick initially claimed that South Korea would invest $50 billion to build a gas pipeline, which has yet to be confirmed by Minister Kim. He said that the deal would only proceed if the project passes the commercial viability test.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Cho told reporters Friday in a briefing that the South Korea-U.S. strategic investment deal reached in November last year would be “an important historic milestone” in realizing the vision of strengthening the two nations’ alliance.
He added that the “strategic alliance” is set to produce tangible results in areas including nuclear-powered submarines, civilian uranium enrichment and reprocessing, shipbuilding cooperation and the transfer of wartime operational control, or Opcon.
