South Korea-Ukraine relations begin to thaw after Paris meeting
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Ukraine and South Korea have begun to repair their bilateral relations weeks after a diplomatic spat broke out between the two countries in September, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed on Nov. 10.
Seoul and Kyiv fell out around the UN General Assembly, where President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that South Korea was receiving North Korean soldiers captured by Ukraine, something South Korea claimed was in breach of a confidentiality agreement.
From there, the tensions multiplied, with Seoul deeming Kyiv insufficiently apologetic, and withdrawing and downgrading diplomatic contacts.
For example, South Korea was represented in Brussels at a Nov. 5 meeting about Russia sanctions, but only with junior diplomats, a Ukrainian diplomat confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.
"We deserve to have exceptionally dynamic and high-level bilateral relations with South Korea," the Foreign Ministry quotes Sybiha as saying on social media.
"We are grateful for the support for our territorial integrity and sovereignty," Sybiha said, after he met with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.
However, it also sounded like more work is needed for diplomatic ties to fully recover.
"I am convinced that further steps lie ahead of us towards the full normalization of bilateral relations," Sybiha said.
