Seoul has decided to be offended. In September 2026, the South Korean foreign ministry summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to deliver a formal protest over the disclosure of information about the transfer of two North Korean POWs. The problem lies elsewhere.
The Timeline Is Embarrassing
The problem is that Seoul itself publicized the entire arrangement back in March 2025. On March 17, 2025, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul held phone talks with Ukraine’s Andrii Sybiha. Cho stated that the captured soldiers are considered South Korean citizens under the country’s Constitution and that Seoul will accept them if they express such intent.
Yonhap, the largest news agency in South Korea, published the story with a photo of one soldier. Public record. Highest diplomatic level.
On September 28, 2026, the soldiers were finally transferred, as agreed. And now Seoul suddenly discovers a breach of confidentiality. Kyiv is accused of revealing what Seoul itself announced eighteen months earlier.
The Real Context Is Money
The story serves as a cover. The real context is money.
- South Korea imported 18 million tons of Russian coal in January–August 2026, up 34 percent year-on-year.
- Seoul continues buying Russian LNG despite sanctions and has asked Britain for an exemption.
- After Ukraine disabled a large share of Russian refining capacity, South Korea began selling fuel to Russia.
So the sequence is clear. Seoul profits from Russia’s war economy, then needs a pretext to distance itself from Ukraine while hiding the obvious motive: it wants to stay on good terms with Moscow because the trade is too convenient.
Appearances Matter
The protest note concerns something other than information security. Seoul wants the economic relationship with Russia to continue quietly while pretending the POW transfer was somehow mishandled by Kyiv. The alternative would be admitting that a democratic ally of the United States is helping finance the war against Ukraine.
Ukraine did not create this contradiction. Seoul did.
That admission is politically impossible in Seoul. So Kyiv gets the blame.
Seoul Created the Contradiction
The irony is that South Korea’s own Constitution treats the North Korean soldiers as its citizens. Seoul claimed them. Seoul negotiated for them. Seoul announced it.
And now Seoul is embarrassed that the world noticed the same government is also buying Russian coal at record volumes.