Ukraine’s foreign minister will visit South Korea on June 30 for a meeting with his counterpart
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun speaks to the press at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on June 22, 2026. (Yonhap)
Ukraine’s foreign minister plans to meet with his South Korean counterpart during a visit to Korea on June 30. The two diplomats are expected to discuss the repatriation of two North Korean soldiers who were deployed to Russia and then captured by Ukraine.South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun announced his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Seoul on Monday.A high-ranking official at the ministry said that the two sides had already held the “basic deliberations” about the two North Korean prisoners of war. “We’ve explained the principle several times, and it remains unchanged,” the official said.The official reiterated Korea’s position that the North Korean POW issue should be resolved in accordance with the principle of the voluntary repatriation of POWs under international law.“We’re seeking to arrange for the POWs to be voluntarily brought to South Korea as soon as possible,” the official said.But the official declined to answer a question about whether the POWs’ repatriation to South Korea would be announced during Cho and Sybiha’s meeting, only remarking that the ministry was “working on it.”Another ministry official who met with reporters on Monday afternoon offered the following explanation.“We’ve communicated our basic position about the North Korean POWs and the principle of international law to Ukraine several times, and Ukraine is basically sympathetic. But this needs to be handled quietly because of the involvement of third parties.”These remarks suggest that North Korea and Russia are opposed to bringing the North Korean POWs to South Korea and that even if their repatriation is discussed in the upcoming meeting and they’re brought to Korea, that won’t be announced until the entire process is complete.By Park Min-hee, senior staff writerPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
