PPP condemns Seoul’s pullout of diplomats from Ukraine as reactionary move

The People Power Party denounced the Lee Jae Myung government’s decision to send extra diplomatic personnel out of Ukraine, describing it as an emotional reaction to a recent controversy over Kyiv’s unilateral disclosure of two North Korean prisoners of war transferred to South Korea. The foreign ministry announced the withdrawal on Tuesday, following the recall of its ambassador amid the dispute. PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sig argued the action is inexplicable unless Seoul is reorienting its foreign policy away from the United States and toward North Korea, China and Russia, and dismissed the government’s claim that air-strike threats prompted the move.

He urged President Lee to fire Unification Minister Chung Dong-young and National Intelligence Service director Lee Jong-sek to prove the policy is not aligned with the three authoritarian states. Fellow PPP lawmakers Yoon Sang-hyun and Na Kyung-won joined the criticism, calling the decision “diplomatic self-sabotage.”