On January 13, 2026, the New Europe Center (Ukraine) together with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies (South Korea) held an online expert discussion.  The event continued the dialogue launched in October 2025.

The discussion brought together Ukrainian and South Korean experts to exchange views on current security challenges, prospects for deeper cooperation between European and Asian democracies, and lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Among the Ukrainian participants were Sergiy Solodkyy, Director at the New Europe Center, Nataliya Butyrska, Associated Senior Fellow at the New Europe Center; Leonid Litra, Senior Research Fellow, New Europe Center; Kateryna Rashevska, Legal Expert, Lead on International Justice and Legal Analysis at the Regional Center for Human Rights; Mykhailo Samus, Director of the New Geopolitics Research Network.

From the Korean side, the Asan Institute was represented by Dr. Sangmin Shim, Senior Research Fellow, and Dr. Yang Uk, Research Fellow. Additionaly Ethan Hee-Seok Shin, Legal Analyst at the Transitional Justice Working Group, took part in the event.

Moderated by Nataliya Butyrska, the discussion covered a wide range of topics, including:

• the current stage of the Russia–Ukraine war and prospects for a peaceful settlement;
• the current constraints on supporting Ukraine;
• the most effective ways to address Russia’s crime of aggression and war crimes in Ukraine within the framework of international criminal accountability;
• Russia–North Korea cooperation as a security challenge for Europe and Asia;
• the issues of international justice, including the deportation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories, with a particular focus on reported cases involving camps in North Korea.

A separate segment of tte discussion addressed the issue of North Korean prisoners of war and the legal frameworks governing their status, as well as the importance of repatriation to South Korea in line with international law.

The New Europe Center sincerely thanks all Ukrainian and Korean speakers for their valuable insights and contributions to this timely and meaningful discussion.

The New Europe Center has been actively working to strengthen Ukraine’s partnerships with key democratic actors in Asia. As part of these efforts, the think tank conducted advocacy visits to Tokyo and Seoul in February 2025, organized the Fifth Ukraine–Japan Forum, and published a range of analytical materials.

The Asan Institute for Policy Studies is one of South Korea’s leading think tanks, based in Seoul, dedicated to fostering policy-oriented research and promoting dialogue on global and regional security, democracy, and international cooperation.

The online briefing is organized by the New Europe Center (Kyiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Asan Institute for Policy Studies (South Korea) and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation (Kyiv, Ukraine).