South Korea said on Thursday it would recall its ambassador to Ukraine as a diplomatic dispute deepens over the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.
The row erupted after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed the prisoner transfer last month, prompting anger in Seoul over concerns that the revelation had put the prisoners’ families in North Korea at risk.
“The government has decided to recall its ambassador to Ukraine,” South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that it hoped the outstanding issues could be resolved amicably through further consultations.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seoul had already summoned Ukraine’s ambassador and threatened unspecified “further measures”. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has also demanded an official apology, while Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha described the incident as a “diplomatic misunderstanding”.
Fuel shipment allegations
The dispute comes amid separate allegations that more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, were shipped from South Korea to Russia in July and August, according to a report by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
An adviser to Zelenskyy said the alleged shipments stood in “sharp contrast” to South Korea’s sanctions policies. Seoul rejected the criticism as “factually incorrect” and “inappropriate”.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that even if the fuel had originated in the country, which it said had not been established, the shipments would not violate its export restrictions on Russia.
“Refined petroleum products, including commercial diesel and aviation fuel, mentioned in The Guardian’s report, are not subject to South Korea’s export controls against Russia,” the ministry said, adding that overall exports to Moscow had more than halved since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
North Korea’s role in the war
North Korea has become a key ally of Russia, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in exchange for economic benefits and military technology.
South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated last year that around 2,000 North Korean troops had been killed in the war, while a more recent assessment put the number killed or wounded at around 6,000.
The diplomatic dispute has also complicated Ukraine’s efforts to secure weapons supplies from Seoul. South Korea has so far withheld lethal weapons from Ukraine, citing a domestic ban on providing military assistance to countries at war.
Seoul has joined a coalition of countries imposing enhanced export controls on Russia and its ally Belarus since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
