SEOUL, November 11 (AJP) - South Korea's top diplomat told Ukraine on Tuesday that mutual respect, trust and the faithful implementation of agreements are the basic preconditions for developing relations between the two countries, pressing Seoul's case over Kyiv's disclosure of a secret transfer of North Korean prisoners of war that has strained ties for weeks.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun delivered the message in talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Paris, held on the margins of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting, which South Korea attended as an invited country. Cho said he hoped the pending issues between the two countries would be resolved smoothly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said.
Sybiha responded that the two countries should continue diplomatic efforts to manage and develop relations stably, according to the ministry.
The dispute dates to Sept. 23, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the UN General Assembly that Ukraine had sent two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
Seoul had expected the transfer to remain secret. The government says the two sides agreed to keep it confidential to protect the soldiers and their families still in North Korea, and President Lee Jae Myung called the disclosure a breach of that agreement.
"It was appropriate in every aspect not to disclose, considering the many problems it may cause when disclosed, and we had agreed to do so," President Lee wrote on X at the time.
Ukraine's presidential office denied that any such agreement existed, saying it would be unusual to hand over the soldiers in secret. Seoul pushed back, summoning Ukraine's acting ambassador to demand an official explanation and apology, and the National Intelligence Service said confidentiality had been agreed from the outset of the negotiations, at Ukraine's own request.
In early October, Cho said Seoul had received a message of apology from Sybiha but that it fell short of expectations. South Korea recalled its ambassador to Ukraine in protest.
The row upended what had been a steadily deepening relationship. The two ministers met in Seoul in June and agreed to handle the prisoner issue in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles, respecting the free will of the soldiers, who had expressed a wish to resettle in South Korea. Seoul considers them its citizens under its Constitution.
Tuesday's talks produced the most conciliatory signals from Kyiv since the dispute began. Ukraine's foreign ministry said Sybiha expressed confidence that new steps toward the "full normalization" of relations would follow, reaffirmed Ukraine's commitment to developing cooperation with South Korea based on a shared view of the security threat posed by North Korea's participation in the war, and welcomed the participation of South Korean companies in Ukraine's reconstruction.
Speaking to Ukrainian state television after the meeting, Sybiha said the two had "a really good conversation" and spoke frankly about the recent "unpleasant" events, Reuters reported.
Cho told Sybiha that South Korea maintains its principled position of supporting Ukraine as a responsible member of the international community, and that the government will continue to review humanitarian assistance and ways to support the country's reconstruction, MOFA said. Sybiha thanked Seoul for its support and said he hoped Ukraine would continue to consult closely with South Korea and the international community on achieving peace.
The two ministers also exchanged in-depth views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the war in Ukraine.
The two soldiers at the center of the dispute were captured in Russia's Kursk region in January 2025 and are the first North Korean troops taken prisoner in the war to be transferred to South Korea.
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