South Korea says Ukraine first requested secrecy over transfer of North Korean POWs

South Korea doubled down Wednesday on its claim that Ukraine violated a mutual confidentiality agreement over the transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs), saying Kyiv was the first to request secrecy over the matter.

South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said the two countries had a shared understanding to keep the transfer confidential from the beginning of the process, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Briefing the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, the National Intelligence Service also said the two North Korean soldiers arrived in South Korea in mid-September and had no major health problems.

The transfer of the captured soldiers to South Korea was disclosed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his address last week to the UN General Assembly.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his office have since said that Ukraine breached a nondisclosure agreement aimed at keeping the transfer a secret to protect the soldiers from dangers they could face if their transfer were to be disclosed.

A Ukrainian presidential official reportedly denied the existence of a nondisclosure agreement.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador Monday and expressed strong concern over the denial.