Seoul turns to open criticism of Kyiv after North Korean POW dispute

Filed 1h ago · Via NV · The Buffoon Desk

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Hidden Agenda

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: European Parliament · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

South Korea's cautious backing of Ukraine has curdled into open criticism after Kyiv transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to Seoul and President Zelenskyy then announced it publicly at the UN General Assembly. President Lee Jae-myung's government says Ukraine had insisted on confidentiality, originally to avoid domestic backlash over losing a chance to trade the prisoners for captured Ukrainian troops, and that Zelenskyy's disclosure broke that understanding.

Ukraine's side denies any non-disclosure agreement ever existed, a denial Seoul says 'seriously damages' trust between the two governments. Korea JoongAng Daily reports Ukraine actually told Seoul in advance that Zelenskyy planned to raise the POWs at the UN anyway, which does not make either government's account of who agreed to what look tidier.

South Korea has already sanctioned Russia and pledged $100 million to Kyiv while refusing direct military aid, and lawmakers allied with Lee are now openly questioning why that support should continue at all.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

When two governments cannot agree on whether they had a secret handshake deal, somebody is telling a story that is more comfortable than true. Ukraine needs Seoul's money and South Korea has its own reasons to warm up to Pyongyang, so both sides have an incentive to make the other look like the one who broke faith. None of that makes the actual prisoners, or the actual $100 million, any less real.

Source: Read the original at NV → Scored: Hidden Agenda · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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