Foreign ministry calls in Ukrainian envoy in response to Kyiv disclosing transfer of NK POWs

The foreign ministry on Monday called in Andrii Vieshkin, acting ambassador of Ukraine to South Korea, following Kyiv's revelation of the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to Seoul. First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo conveyed Seoul's stern stance on the issue to Vieshkin, the ministry said in a statement. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed during a United Nations address that Ukraine sent the two North Korean soldiers captured last year to South Korea. President Lee Jae Myung and his office have since said Ukraine breached a nondisclosure agreement aimed at keeping the transfer a secret to safeguard the former soldiers from dangers they could face if their transfer were to be disclosed, citing international law and humanitarian principles. Soon after, Ukrainian media outlets reported a Ukrainian presidential source as denying the existence of a confidentiality agreement with Seoul. Park expressed strong concern over Ukraine's denial of the confidentiality agreement with Korea, saying such an action gravely damages mutual trust and affect