South Korea recalls its ambassador to Ukraine over Zelenskyy's disclosure of North Korean POW transfer

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Seoul is recalling ambassador Park Hee-chang from Kyiv after Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly revealed that two captured North Korean soldiers had been secretly transferred to South Korea. South Korea accuses Ukraine of breaking a nondisclosure agreement; Kyiv denies any such deal was ever made. The row erupted after Zelenskyy mentioned the transfer during his UN speech on 23 September.