South Korean Embassy Resumes Operation In Ukraine's Kiev - Foreign Ministry

SEOUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd May, 2022) The South Korean ambassador to Ukraine and a part of diplomatic staff have returned to Kiev to restart operation from May 2, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.

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.

"The South Korean embassy is preparing to resume operation from May 2 and intending to conduct diplomatic work in Kiev in even closer cooperation with the Ukrainian government in order to protect its citizens in Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement added that some South Korean diplomats, who were working in a temporary liaison office in Chernivtsi, including the South Korean ambassador to Ukraine Kim Hyung-tae, have now returned to the Ukrainian capital city.

The rest of the embassy's diplomatic staff still remains in Chernivtsi and Romania, also considering a gradual return to Kiev depending on the situation.

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.