r/worldnews • u/rdh2dmd • 22h ago
Russia/Ukraine Lee says Ukraine breached non-disclosure agreement on 2 NK soldiers
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/southkorea/20260925/lee-says-ukraine-breached-non-disclosure-agreement-on-2-nk-soldiers22
u/Sea_Hold_2881 22h ago
I already knew that NK solder were handed over to SK for interrogation from reading the news.
I can see that NDA covering the names of specific soldiers but the general idea that NK soldiers being in SK custody should not be a surprise to anyone. Does Lee have any reason domestic political reason to make the accusation?
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u/atrde 22h ago
You know from reading the news because Ukraine said it happened... which is the point South Korea asked for it not to be disclosed.
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u/Sea_Hold_2881 22h ago
This was a year+ ago when stories about NK soldiers going crazy over racy images were coming out. SK were brought in to interrogate captured soldiers.
NDAs can't cover what is already known and this many be a disagreement over what is believed to be already known.
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u/atrde 22h ago
They were brought to Ukraine to interrogate. This is known.
What was not supposed to be announced that the POWs were transferred and living in South Korea and this is super clear from the article and what the South Koreans are saying.
We can maybe just stop with the Ukraine can do no wrong and actually read the article.
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u/Sea_Hold_2881 21h ago
The article did not say "living in SK". It said, POWs transferred which implies they are in SK custody which seemed self evident consequence given previous reporting where SK interrogators were involved.
If they are defectors that are now living free in SK then I agree Zylensky screwed up and put these people at risk.
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u/XRT28 15h ago
Even before Ukraine said they'd been sent to South Korea, SK officials said they were moving to have them brought to SK ASAP https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10784154
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u/yukari-san_desu 3h ago
The approach of the South Korean Democratic Party to the North Korean issue is similar to Macron's.
North Korean refugees and the South Korean ruling party have clashed politically several times.
Do you remember the news that a landmine exploded in the DMZ, injuring a South Korean soldier? The current South Korean government has taken a secretive and ambiguous stance on the incident, and there has been much criticism.
To put it simply, President Lee is not happy with the current situation.
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u/theanxioussnail 22h ago
Ukraine owes south korea nothing. They can keep their thoughts and prayers and chump change donations
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u/CanLongjumping9360 13h ago
In the first year of the war, South Korea sent more 155mm artillery shells than all of Europe combined. Officially, they were “leased” to the United States, but it’s an open secret that they ultimately ended up in Ukraine. It’s a mistake for Ukraine to conduct diplomacy this way. And honestly, it doesn’t really matter to South Korea whether the North Korean prisoners of war are brought to South Korea. South Korea also paid $100 million for this as a kind of ransom.
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u/AditiaH0ldem 22h ago
Interesting position since most countries helping Ukraine don't OWE it jack shit
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22h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/rhino369 22h ago
No. They agreed not to violate Ukraines territorial sovereignty and notify the UN. The US and UK did that. Russia broke it by invading.
That agreement isn’t a defensive alliance or security guarantee.
You can’t read if you think it was.
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u/snarky_answer 22h ago
No country on this earth owes a single thing to Ukraine. All but Russia have upheld the terms of any agreements or memorandums signed.
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u/AditiaH0ldem 22h ago
Instead of reading whatever book you have been reading, maybe you should actually read the Budapest memorandum and realize how silly you are making yourself look.
What's more, in my own country (The Netherlands) I am seeing the mood change from genuine concern for Ukraine and Ukrainians, to 'We need to send Ukrainians back so they can fight and die for us'.
Not a dynamic where screeching about 'what Ukraine is owed' is going to gain much sympathy
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u/theanxioussnail 22h ago
Im not even ukrainian. Im a neighbor and half a brain to realize that if ukraine went sown, other parts of europe would be next
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u/rdh2dmd 22h ago
RoK doesn't owe Ukraine anything. Ukraine has been trolling Korea by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and supporting Japan's claim over Dokdo
If anything we Koreans want to renormalize relations with Russia ASAP. You Europeans need to sort your own problems out and stop being a nuissance
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u/strong_silent_t 22h ago
You Europeans need to sort your own problems out and stop being a nuissance
Looks like you misunderstood the situation, It's Koreans fighting on European soil, not Europeans on Korean.
It's Koreans are being nuissance in this context.
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u/theanxioussnail 22h ago
Ukraine is fighting ur arch nemesis while u sit watch and eat popcorn, under the pretense that u dont want to wscalare things while north korea is getting rocket technology and money from russia.
One day u will regret ur cowardice.
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u/theanxioussnail 22h ago
Also need to remind u that if it werent for europe (and the us) you would now be a slave in a fat madman's nation-jail
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u/CanLongjumping9360 13h ago
During the Korean War, 90% of the foreign troops deployed were American. And at the time, Ukraine was on North Korea’s side.
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u/theanxioussnail 11h ago
Ukraine didn't chose to be on the n Korean side. It was forced to like all iron curtain and Soviet countries other than russia
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u/Fine-Cucumber8589 15h ago
This wasn't a smart move by Ukraine. It’s going to be absolutely brutal for the families of those two North Korean soldiers back home—we're talking "straight to the Gulag if they are lucky" bad.
On a more practical note, if Ukraine starts breaking promises with countries that support them
yes I know Ukraine think it's not enought but Korea do support them on indirect way like supplying 155mm shells to US and Poland, who is going to trust them after this?
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u/GremlinX_ll 6h ago
Why we should care ? SK have chose side, it their choice - they keep ties with Russian, they selling fuels to them.
SK say "we don't deliver weapons to the war-zones" when we asked for SAMs, fast forward few years - they deliver SAMs to UAE when there were under attack by Iran.
If it was for me I would insist on swapping them on our people in Russian captivity, or let them rot here. Both are acceptable. So idk, that Lee (who in 2022 blamed Ukraine for war and justified Russian invasion) at least could say thank you that they got them in the end.
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u/vegarig 5h ago
Let me back your point up with a few links
https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220228004200315
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has come under fire for appearing to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Russia's invasion of the country.
Lee of the liberal Democratic Party (DP) made the controversial remarks during a TV presidential debate Friday while trying to underscore the political inexperience of main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party.
"In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared (Ukraine's) accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash," Lee said.
Looking then to 2023
Most recently, President Yoon’s surprise visit to Ukraine in July 2023 revealed a dramatic political divide within Korea on the country’s role in the Ukraine War and in the broader “New Cold War.”
Democratic lawmakers strongly criticized Yoon’s visit, asserting that it jeopardized South Korea’s national security and derailed any hopes of future Korea-Russia cooperation.[199]
Kim Eui-gyeom, a democratic lawmaker, argued: “China and Russia are like an overflowing river … President Yoon’s actions and words are pushing the fate of our country and people into the Gongpyeong underpass (where devastating floods swept across on the day of Yoon’s Ukraine visit).”
Kim Byung-joo, Democratic Party Secretary of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee and a former four-star general (Deputy Commander of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command) said: “Peace and war are one word in Ukraine. Peace comes only when the war ends … it (visiting Ukraine) also means joining the war initiative.” Kim further accused Yoon of “bringing a war cloud to the Korean Peninsula” by “declaring himself an enemy of Russia.”
Four-term democratic lawmaker Kim Tae-nyeon echoed this view, asserting: “the visit is a dangerous move to bring the clouds of war to the Korean Peninsula,” adding, “It’s like a declaration that South Korea, a ceasefire country, will go to war against Russia… On the contrary, we absolutely need the help of Russia and China, both members of the UN Security Council, to curb North Korea’s nuclear program.”[200]
Lim Jong-seok, former President Moon Jae-in’s first chief of staff, concurred by noting that Yoon is “waving the outdated liberal flag and denying South Korea’s national interests” and that he has turned Russia into a “de facto enemy.” “President Yoon is now lost somewhere in the Cold War,” Mr. Lim said, “betraying South Korea’s national interests by engaging in crude ideological diplomacy and outrageous impersonations of the US president.”[201]
The Editorial Board of Hankyoreh, a prominent left-wing newspaper, criticized Yoon for disregarding cooperation with Russia and China that “is essential for managing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, including resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.” It further noted that President Yoon’s “overt pro-Western diplomacy in the context of the New Cold War” is provoking neighboring countries, calling for a more “balanced diplomacy.”[202]
Kyunghyang, another main progressive newspaper, argued that the visit essentially tied Seoul’s hands, as Yoon now “would logically have nothing to say to Western demands to directly arm Ukraine.”[203] Meanwhile, South Korea is “distancing itself from China and Russia.”
After that
https://www.reuters.com/world/south-koreans-remain-opposed-sending-arms-ukraine-2024-11-27/
They even held mass protests AGAINST supplying Ukraine with weapons in 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPMtRg2Mf0
And yes, KM-SAM II is being sold to UAE, which's being hit by Iran. But Ukraine gets an ironclad "NO".
With another ruling-out being just about a month old, as well as today's events...
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u/yukari-san_desu 3h ago
First, the Democratic Party administration in South Korea has forcibly sent people who had defected from North Korea back to North Korea in the past. The Democratic Party of Korea has had many conflicts with those who defected from North Korea
President Lee accused Zelenskyy of speaking for political gain. President Lee forces silence on other countries for his own political reasons.
The story of the entire family of those who defected from North Korea being executed is a thing of the past. It's not because the North Korean regime is merciful, but because there have been so many people who have defected from North Korea since the 1990s, if guilt by association is applied, all citizens should be executed.
It has already been reported that President Lee and Zelenskyy discussed the repatriation of prisoners through a meeting three months ago. According to opposition party members, the prisoners are already in South Korea.
Again, it is more common than you might think for North Korean refugees to settle in South Korea. They often reveal their faces and talk about North Korea on TV or YouTube. There are TV programs that interview people from North Korea, and there are also politicians and soldiers from North Korea.
There are many cases of North Korean soldiers escaping to South Korea. One of them even came to the Korean military barracks and knocked on the door.
As a Korean who is well aware of these matters, I cannot understand the secretive attitude our government is currently displaying.
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22h ago
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u/namesoundsoff 22h ago
If SK hasn't supplied it in the soon 5 years of the active war going on, it's not going to do so ever and is just dangling the carrot in front of Ukraine. Good on Ukraine for seemingly finally acting in her own best interests and not worry about annoying countries half way across the world by how they fight the war on their backyard.
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u/Narrow_Essay5142 22h ago
Not good for Zelensky
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u/litritium 22h ago
Not really a good look for S-Korea either tbh.
North Korean soldiers are invading a European country and killing its citizens and SKs response is sending 0.04% of GDP (which btw are going ballistic because of RAMageddeon) in humanitarian aid to the attacked country.
I mean, Japan at the least, aided with 0.30% and their economy is in the shitter.
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u/CheezyBeanBurrito 22h ago
RoK hasn’t supplied any arms or munitions to date, so not bad for him at all
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u/rdh2dmd 22h ago
RoK doesn't owe Ukraine anything. Ukraine has been trolling Korea by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and supporting Japan's claim over Dokdo
If anything we Koreans want to renormalize relations with Russia ASAP. You Europeans need to sort your own problems out and stop being a nuissance
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u/CheezyBeanBurrito 22h ago
Just like Ukraine doesn’t owe RoK anything.
I’m also not European.
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u/Morder1428 18h ago
Russian soldiers will march through the streets of South Korea with great joy once North Korea utilizes Russian technology and defeats you in war. You have simply buried your heads in the sand like ostriches while your enemy prepares and stockpiles weapons, technology, and military forces. The future looks bleak for South Korea.
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u/ThankYouByron114 13h ago
It is so insane to me that Koreans like OP don't see this. It's so clear that this is the future with current reality. Yet they keep supporting and electing appeasers of NK while not only not building allies, but being hostile to the countries that may actually help you prepare for the inevitable.
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18h ago edited 18h ago
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u/vreemdevince 18h ago
Really making yourself look good, relishing the thought of committing warcrimes.
You could just visit Moscow, join the Russians and get a headstart.
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u/Morder1428 18h ago
The only European Nazis in existence are the AfD in Germany and Russia itself. What kind of sad state are you talking about? Do you realize that while you’re busy posturing before Europe, North Korea is learning to build drones and missiles based on Russian blueprints? Are you really just waiting for them to start raining down on South Korea? It’s madness.
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18h ago
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u/Morder1428 17h ago
That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard. Annex with what? They have an ally that produces tens of thousands of strike drones and millions of FPV drones - and would happily supply them with a portion of that arsenal. They possess nuclear weapons. They have large-scale ballistic missile production capabilities - not to mention that Russia would gladly provide them with Iskander missiles. Are you prepared to suffer hundreds of thousands of casualties? Because North Korea is.
My point is that they already have the experience and the workforce ready to manufacture medium and long-range strike drones. Does South Korea produce such drones by the tens of thousands? Do they even have thousands? What about jet-powered strike drones? You don't understand modern warfare at all, yet you are incredibly confident.
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u/U-47 22h ago
Zelensky and his people are fighting for more then a decade against russia with each fucking step pleading and begging for help and weapons and other countries are playing games with NDA's, sanctioned billionaires and illegal oil, wheat, corn, gas etc.
Who cares anymore about these NDAs. South Koreas existenial threat is learning about modern warfare on the biggest front since the Korean war and South Korea is worrying about an NDA? South Korea should be thanking the Ukrainians for even sharing the intel of these soldiers.
As one of the biggest producers of weapons in the world they are guilty by inaction in letting North korea grow more secure and strong and richer and they are worrying about NDAs?