During the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2026, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the transfer to [South Korea](https://defence24.pl/geopolityka/czy-rosjanie-sprowokuja-koree-poludniowa-do-wsparcia-ukrainy-comment) of 2 North Korean prisoners of war captured by the Ukrainian army, which triggered a crisis in relations between Seoul and Kyiv. The South Korean authorities, accusing Ukraine of disclosing secret agreements, viewed this not only as a breach of a confidential agreement, but besides as actions detrimental to South Korea’s national interests, which is peculiarly crucial in the context of increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula—writes Prof. Piotr Ostaszewski, Ph.D., Warsaw School of Economics, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Korea from 2017 to 2024.
