South Korea Withdraws Diplomatic Staff from Ukraine Amid Dispute
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, South Korean media reported on Tuesday that Seoul has decided to withdraw some of its diplomatic staff from its embassy in Kyiv. This decision stems from a dispute with Ukraine concerning the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that this decision was made after Park Ke-chang, the South Korean ambassador to Ukraine, was recalled to Seoul on October 8.
The disagreement began when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in his September 23 speech at the United Nations General Assembly that Kyiv had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
Seoul has accused Ukraine of violating a confidentiality agreement. According to South Korean officials, this agreement was established to prevent the disclosure of the prisoners’ transfer and to protect their lives and the lives of their families in North Korea. Ukrainian officials have denied the existence of such an agreement.
Park Do-soon, spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced on Tuesday that the decision to reduce diplomatic staff was made in light of the ongoing threat of air raids across Ukraine and the difficulty in guaranteeing their safety.
He stated that despite the ambassador’s recall, the expected preventive measures from Ukraine have not been implemented.
According to the spokesperson, diplomatic communications will continue through the interim chargé d’affaires, and all consular staff will remain in Ukraine to support South Korean citizens.
South Korean and Western intelligence assessments indicate that North Korea has dispatched thousands of military personnel to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
