"Zelensky's Political Show" vs. "No Agreement": Ukrainian Politics Stirred Over North Korean POWs

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise disclosure of the repatriation of two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea has sparked controversy within Ukraine's political circles.

While the South Korean government maintains that Ukraine broke an agreement to keep the prisoner repatriation confidential by unexpectedly making it public, a battle of truth is unfolding within Ukraine over President Zelensky's actions.

According to local Ukrainian media outlets Ukrayinska Pravda and Interfax-Ukraine, Oksana Torop, a media advisor to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, criticized President Zelensky's public disclosure of the POW repatriation as a "show" in a Facebook post on the 25th.

Torop criticized, "The problem is that there was a non-disclosure agreement between the two countries," adding, "A show, exaggerated PR, and a strong effect for intense visuals. Here we go again."

When an associate of Ambassador Zaluzhnyi, widely regarded as a political rival of President Zelensky, publicly criticized the president's move, Dmytro Lytvyn, an advisor to President Zelensky, directly countered in the comments section, stating that there was no confidential agreement.

After Torop reiterated her stance by commenting, "As I understand it, such an agreement existed, and the POW issue was part of the process of negotiating greater cooperation with South Korea," Lytvyn fired back, "There was no agreement to remain silent," leading to an online war of words in the comments.

Previously, President Zelensky made a surprise announcement during his speech at the UN General Assembly on the 23rd that Ukraine had recently repatriated two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

Regarding this, in response to an inquiry from Yonhap News regarding the background behind the decision to send the North Korean POWs to South Korea, the Office of the President of Ukraine stated that it is a "fairly sensitive issue," while claiming that the decision was reached through "direct dialogue with South Korea."

Later on the 24th, President Lee Jae-myung stated via social media, "The issue of repatriating North Korean prisoners to South Korea is a very sensitive agenda that greatly impacts diplomacy, security, and the situation on the Korean Peninsula," adding, "Considering various problems that public disclosure could cause, keeping it private was reasonable in all aspects, and we had agreed upon that."

President Lee then pointed out that the Ukrainian side "broke the confidentiality agreement and made it public," noting, "I do not know what reasons they might have, but it is very regrettable."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.