During the U.N General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise announcement. In his speech on Sept. 23, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine has sent two North Korean prisoners of war (POW) to South Korea, in accordance with the prisoners’ wishes. The South Korean government expressed displeasure, protesting that Ukraine violated an agreement to keep the transfer confidential. The issue has caused a diplomatic dispute over whether such an agreement actually existed and stirred controversy within South Korea on whether the government was justified in attempting to avoid disclosing their transfer. South Korea has had a long history of receiving North Korean defectors, regarding them legally as South Korean citizens. During the Korean War, President Syngman Rhee released 27,000 North Korean prisoners who refused repatriation back to the North, allowing them to stay in South Korea. North Korean soldiers, diplomats and civilians have continued to defect to the South by crossing the DMZ and maritime borders or via third countries. Even progressive South Korean administ