Photo source: News1
The Korean government decided to recall Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang to his home country. This measure comes amid ongoing conflict between South Korea and Ukraine over the disclosure of the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 8th, "We hope that all pending issues between the two countries will be resolved amicably, and to this end, we will continue discussions with Ukraine."
This measure is an extension of the diplomatic conflict between the two countries after the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea was made public last month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on the 23rd of last month that he had sent two North Korean prisoners of war captured by the Ukrainian military to South Korea.
The Korean government protested, saying that Ukraine unilaterally disclosed the repatriation even though both countries had agreed to keep it confidential.
When the Ukrainian side stated that there was no non-disclosure agreement, the Blue House responded by calling this an “announcement of false facts,” devolving into a battle over the truth.
On the 28th of last month, the Korean government summoned Acting Ukrainian Ambassador to Korea Andriy Beshkin to protest.
On the 2nd, President Lee Jae-myung also demanded that Ukraine "acknowledge the fact of the agreement and apologize," and announced that he would take further action if it continued to refuse a public apology.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun said on the 6th that he had received a "message containing an apology" from the Ukrainian side, but also said, "The level is different from what we think, so we want to take firm action." At the time, Minister Cho announced that recalling the ambassador to Ukraine was also included in the review.
As the government decides to recall the actual ambassador two days later, the level of diplomatic protest against Ukraine is expected to increase further. However, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will continue discussions with Ukraine to resolve the pending issue.
