South Korea's foreign ministry summoned Ukraine's acting ambassador Monday to lodge a formal protest and demand an apology after President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly revealed at the United Nations General Assembly last week that Kyiv had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul, according to reporting syndicated from Reuters via the Cyprus Mail.

The two soldiers were captured fighting for Russia and were quietly handed over to South Korea. Seoul says the transfer was made under a confidentiality agreement meant to keep the sensitive handoff out of public view, a claim Kyiv's presidential office disputes — though Ukrainian media reports have suggested there was at least an informal understanding that the transfer would eventually become public.

Bad timing for Seoul

The blowup lands at a delicate moment for South Korea, which has been cautiously exploring renewed outreach to Pyongyang and is watching for signs of a possible U.S.-North Korea engagement. A public announcement tying Seoul directly to North Korean POW handling risks complicating that diplomacy, according to U.S. News' coverage of the dispute.

THE DISCLOSURE SERIOUSLY UNDERMINES TRUST BETWEEN THE TWO GOVERNMENTS

South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo said the disclosure "seriously undermines trust between the two governments," a sentiment echoed across South Korean media coverage of the ambassador summons, per Inkl's aggregated reporting.

Ukraine's presidential office has not issued a formal apology as of Monday, and it's unclear whether the diplomatic friction will affect the broader relationship between Seoul and Kyiv, which has included South Korean humanitarian and reconstruction support for Ukraine throughout the war. The two North Korean soldiers remain in South Korean custody; their ultimate legal status — repatriation, asylum or something else — has not been publicly resolved.