Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. [Lim Se-jun]
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. [Lim Se-jun]

South Korea's ambassador to Ukraine, Park Ki-chang, returned home Saturday morning.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson's office announced that Park had arrived back in the country that morning.

The government decided to recall Park on Thursday after Ukraine publicly disclosed the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea and claimed there had been no agreement to keep the matter confidential.

Government officials said that even if Ukraine's breach of the confidentiality arrangement was a mistake, its subsequent conduct had continued to worsen the situation, making the ambassador's recall unavoidable.

Recalling an ambassador from an overseas post is a stronger form of diplomatic protest than summoning the other country's envoy. It is the first time in 19 years that South Korea has recalled its ambassador from a host country — the last instance was in July 2008, when then-Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul-hyun was recalled over a Japanese textbook dispute involving claims to Dokdo.

The government has said it will continue consultations with Ukraine even after the recall, but the diplomatic rift between the two sides is expected to persist for now.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com