South Korea Considering Returning Embassy To Kiev - Foreign Ministry

Seoul is considering relocating its embassy back to the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev after two months of evacuation, the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday

SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2022) Seoul is considering relocating its embassy back to the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev after two months of evacuation, the South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday.

Seoul evacuated the embassy from Kiev in late February and established two temporary liaison offices in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi, and one in Romania soon after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. The Lviv office was closed on March 18.

"Given that the situation in the Kiev Region is stabilizing, our embassy is going to return to Kiev in the nearest future to better facilitate cooperation with the Ukrainian government and protect South Korean citizens," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry noted that there is no specific date yet for the relocation of the embassy, adding that it will depend of the security situation in the region and with regard to the safety of the mission.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. Many countries began evacuating or relocating their embassies to the western parts of Ukraine even before the Russian advance.