Key facts
- Sybiha said he is convinced further steps lie ahead toward full normalization of bilateral relations.
- Sybiha said Ukraine deserves exceptionally dynamic and high-level bilateral relations with South Korea.
- Sybiha thanked South Korea for support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
- South Korea downgraded its representation at a November 5 Brussels meeting on Russia sanctions to junior diplomats, a Ukrainian diplomat said.
Ukraine and South Korea have begun to repair their bilateral relations weeks after a diplomatic dispute broke out between the two countries in September, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on November 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. South Korea said the disclosure was in breach of a confidentiality agreement. Tensions multiplied from there, with Seoul deeming Kyiv insufficiently apologetic and withdrawing and downgrading diplomatic contacts.
South Korea was represented in Brussels at a November 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 meeting his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Paris.
Sybiha also indicated 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," he said.