South Korea’s spy agency has said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy likely disclosed the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to rally support for greater assistance to Ukraine, while reiterating that Kiev had requested secrecy over the move.
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave the assessment during a closed-door briefing to the National Assembly’s intelligence committee on Wednesday, according to lawmakers who attended.
Zelenskyy revealed during his address to the UN General Assembly last week that the captured soldiers had been transferred to South Korea, prompting Seoul to demand an apology over what it said was a breach of a confidentiality agreement.
The NIS said the two countries had understood from the outset that the transfer would remain confidential and that Ukraine had been the first to request secrecy, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Lawmaker Yoo Yeong-ha said the agency believed Zelenskyy’s disclosure was intended to build public support in South Korea for supplying weapons and other assistance to Ukraine. Yoo did not elaborate or say how the intelligence service made its assessment.
South Korea has provided humanitarian aid and other support to Ukraine but has refrained from supplying weapons, in line with its policy of not arming countries actively engaged in conflict.
Seoul awaits apology
Yoo said the intelligence committee was told Ukraine had offered neither an apology nor an expression of regret through official or unofficial channels.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his office have said the confidentiality agreement was intended to protect the soldiers from dangers they could face if the transfer became public.
A Ukrainian presidential official reportedly denied that such an agreement existed. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador on Monday to express strong concern over that denial.
The NIS said the two soldiers arrived in South Korea in mid-September and had no major health problems, according to lawmaker Yun Kun-young, who also attended the briefing.
The agency said that while in Ukraine, the soldiers had expressed their desires to resettle in South Korea, according to Yun.
South Korean officials have voiced concern for the safety of the soldiers and their relatives in North Korea. Experts said the transfer could also trigger protests from Pyongyang and complicate efforts to restart talks between North Korea and the United States.
North Korea has not publicly commented on the transfer, but has previously accused Seoul of abducting its citizens or luring them to defect.
North Korean troops in Russia
The two soldiers were among thousands sent by North Korea to help Russia repel a Ukrainian incursion into its Kursk border region, as part of expanding military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korea has also supplied Russia with conventional weapons.
Yun said the NIS estimated that around 9,000 North Korean troops were engaged in surveillance operations in Kursk.
He also added that the lawmakers were told Russia has given North Korea weapons technologies to support its military modernisation plans but has been reluctant to transfer cutting-edge technology related to nuclear-powered submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
