South Korean Ambassador to Ukraine Park Ki-chang, who was recalled amid diplomatic tensions with Ukraine, did not attend the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's parliamentary audit of the embassy today (October 18, local time).

According to diplomatic authorities, Yoon Ji-wan, minister-counsellor and deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Ukraine, attended remotely as acting ambassador during the parliamentary audit of the embassies to Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus held today at the South Korean Embassy in Poland.

Yoon, serving as chargé d'affaires, is scheduled to undergo the audit via video link from the embassy in Ukraine.

Ambassador Park returned to South Korea on October 10 after being recalled in the wake of diplomatic friction between the two nations, which flared after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly revealed last month that North Korean prisoners of war were sent to South Korea.

South Korean Ambassador to Russia Lee Seok-bae is also unavoidably scheduled to attend today's audit via video link due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

A diplomatic official explained that Ambassador Lee was unable to travel to the South Korean Embassy in Poland, where the audit is taking place, as Moscow's airports were closed following Ukrainian drone attacks.

(Photo: Yonhap News)