South Korea has withdrawn eight diplomatic personnel from Ukraine as a dispute over the public disclosure of two captured North Korean soldiers escalates, exposing tensions between governments whose interests have increasingly converged over Russia’s war.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun confirmed the departures on Tuesday during a parliamentary audit, saying Seoul remained dissatisfied with Kyiv’s response to its concerns. Essential personnel will stay in Ukraine to assist South Korean citizens despite continued Russian attacks.
“I have continued communicating with the Ukrainian foreign minister to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” Cho said, according to Yonhap.
The dispute centres on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement at the United Nations General Assembly on September 23 that two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting alongside Russian forces would be transferred to South Korea.
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Seoul maintains that the two governments had agreed to keep the arrangement confidential to protect the prisoners and relatives still living in North Korea. Kyiv disputes that account, saying South Korea had been informed that Zelensky intended to mention the transfer and that he disclosed neither the soldiers’ identities nor sensitive operational information.
The disagreement has steadily escalated. Seoul recalled its ambassador, Park Ki-chang, earlier this month before announcing plans to withdraw additional embassy personnel. Cho said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha had sent a message containing an apology, but that it fell short of South Korea’s expectations.
The diplomatic rupture comes as North Korea’s military support for Moscow has become increasingly explicit. The two prisoners were captured in Russia’s Kursk region in January 2025 while fighting alongside Russian troops and reportedly arrived in South Korea in September 2026.
Despite the dispute, Cho said Seoul’s broader support for Ukraine remained unchanged, including humanitarian assistance, reconstruction initiatives and international efforts to end the war.
The immediate confrontation may be limited to diplomatic protocol, but it underscores the sensitivities surrounding North Korea’s involvement in the conflict — and the difficulty of maintaining cooperation when governments disagree over how that involvement should be disclosed.
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