South Korea will continue supporting
Ukraine “as a responsible member of the international community” despite a
diplomatic dispute over the disclosure of two North Korean prisoners of war being repatriated to the South, a foreign ministry official said on Thursday.
The official said Seoul would treat its help to Ukraine separately from the dispute, while continuing bilateral consultations to resolve outstanding issues.
The remarks came after South Korean Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang was recalled to Seoul on Saturday, following a spat over Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky’s public disclosure of the transfer during his UN General Assembly speech on September 23.
The ambassador’s recall was one of several options Seoul considered after the disclosure, which it says breached a confidentiality arrangement intended to protect the soldiers and their families in
North Korea.
