When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23 that Kyiv had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war (POWs) to South Korea, Seoul's reaction was swift and unusually sharp. President Lee Jae Myung accused Ukraine of breaking a nondisclosure agreement and the presidential office demanded an official apology. The Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires. When Kyiv initially denied a confidentiality pact existed, Seoul called the denial a "falsehood" that "seriously undermines trust between the two governments." This was not a routine diplomatic complaint. It was a signal that something more fundamental had been misread. The logic behind Kyiv's move is not hard to trace. Ukraine handed Seoul two strategically important POWs after months of quiet diplomacy — soldiers from among the estimated over 10,000 North Koreans deployed to fight for Russia. It has repeatedly asked South Korea for lethal weapons, most recently Cheongung-II air defense system in August, and been turned down each time. Analysts widely read the public