South Korea to recall envoy from Ukraine in POW row

South Korea said Thursday it will recall its ambassador to Ukraine as a diplomatic row deepened over the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.

South Korea's foreign ministry said the government hoped all outstanding issues between the two countries would be resolved amicably and that consultations with Ukraine would continue.

The dispute began after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed the prisoner transfer last month. Seoul said the disclosure put the prisoners' families in North Korea at risk. South Korea has summoned Ukraine's ambassador, threatened unspecified further measures and demanded an official apology. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga has described the incident as a “diplomatic misunderstanding”.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Relations have also been strained by a Guardian report alleging that more than 176,000 tonnes of fuel, mostly diesel, had been shipped from South Korea to Russia in July and August. An adviser to Zelensky said this week that the alleged diesel shipments stood in “sharp contrast” to South Korea's sanctions policies, remarks Seoul called “factually incorrect” and “inappropriate”.

South Korea's foreign ministry said Thursday that even if the fuel had originated in South Korea, which it said had not been established, refined petroleum products including commercial diesel and aviation fuel are not covered by South Korea's export controls against Russia. The ministry also said overall exports to Moscow had more than halved since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

North Korea has become a key ally of the Kremlin since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, sending troops to support Moscow's war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology. South Korea's spy agency estimated last year that about 2,000 North Korean troops had been killed in the war, while a more recent assessment put the number killed or wounded at about 6,000.

Ukraine's hopes of arms supplies from Seoul have been complicated by the diplomatic row. South Korea has so far not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing a domestic ban on militarily aiding countries at war.