Foreign Minister Cho Hyun met with his Ukrainian counterpart Tuesday to discuss the repatriation of captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea.
Cho held talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha at the Foreign Ministry building in Seoul. In a briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said, "The two countries' top diplomats held constructive discussions under a shared understanding that the issue of North Korean prisoners of war should be resolved in a manner consistent with international law and humanitarian principles."
Immediately after the talks, Sybiha said on his X account, "I discussed the issue of North Korean prisoners of war in detail with Minister Cho," adding that "we reached a shared understanding on how to handle this in accordance with international humanitarian law."
The South Korean government has maintained its position that two North Korean soldiers, who were deployed to the Kursk battlefield and captured by Ukraine, should be brought to South Korea in accordance with humanitarian principles, and the Ukrainian side concurred with this view.
The talks also covered support for Ukraine and reconstruction cooperation measures, as well as the issue of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. "We will continue our support efforts for Ukraine in areas such as energy, infrastructure, health and medical care," Park said.
