South Korea to withdraw some Ukraine embassy staff after POW row

SEOUL: South Korea's foreign ministry said Tuesday (Oct 20) it will withdraw some staff from its embassy in Ukraine, as a diplomatic row deepens over the transfer of North Korean prisoners of war to Seoul.

The announcement came more than a week after South Korea's ambassador to Ukraine returned home following President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's disclosure of the prisoner transfer last month, which Seoul said put their families in North Korea at risk.

The recall of Seoul's ambassador to Ukraine has met with "no positive response from the Ukrainian side", Park Doo-soon, the spokesperson for Seoul's foreign ministry, told reporters Tuesday.

And in "light of the persistent threat of air strikes throughout the country, which makes ensuring the safety of personnel difficult, the government has decided to withdraw some of its diplomatic mission staff".

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has demanded an official apology over the prisoner revelation.

Seoul also previously summoned Kyiv's ambassador and threatened unspecified "further measures".

Ukraine has insisted that "diplomacy must prevail over emotions" in relations between the countries and that they consider "the situation resolved".

Earlier this month, Seoul's foreign minister Cho Hyun said Ukraine had sent a message that "included words of apology" over Zelenskyy's disclosure, but it fell short of "the level" Seoul had in mind.