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GWYNNE DYER: Why Ukraine and South Korea are having a spat

Ukraine captured two North Korean soldiers and secretly sent them to South Korea, but when Zelensky spilled the beans, all bets were off

“I would not like to call this an incident. Let’s say it’s a diplomatic misunderstanding,” said Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha.

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But the South Korean president definitely sees it as a serious incident, and he has already gone public with it.

“If (Ukraine’s) refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures,” President Lee Jae-myung wrote on X.

He probably means cutting the non-military aid South Korea gives to Ukraine. (There is no military aid, since the constitution bans Seoul from providing arms to a country actively involved in a war).

What monstrous misdeed did the Ukrainian government commit to deserve such harsh words from a country that is generally sympathetic to Ukraine’s struggle against its giant neighbour? Have the South Koreans discovered Ukrainian spies in the Blue House?

No, it’s what we professionals call a ‘spat’.

That is to say, two people, two groups, or even two entire countries behaving like four-year-olds arguing over who’s........

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