South Korea is not ruling out providing weapons directly to Ukraine, President Yoon Suk-yeol has said, following North Korea’s deployment of troops to support Russia in its war.
Pyongyang’s involvement in the conflict presented a threat to Seoul, as the reclusive state’s soldiers get much-needed combat experience, which its military lacks, and additionally gets rewarded by Moscow with sensitive military technology transfers, Yoon told a news conference on Thursday.
South Korea, a major arms exporter, has a longstanding policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.
“Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases,” Yoon said.
“This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons.” Yoon said he discussed North Korea with United States president-elect Donald Trump in a phone conversation that laid the groundwork for a face-to-face meeting in the “near future”.
North Korea has become one of the most vocal and important backers of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
South Korea and the West have long accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine.
But intelligence reports from Seoul, Washington and NATO have revealed that North Korea has deployed 10,000 troops to Russia, indicating an even deeper involvement in the conflict.
Yoon said his office would monitor the unfolding developments related to the operations of North Korean soldiers, and if he decided to provide weapons to Ukraine, the initial batch would be defensive.
“If we proceed with weapons support, we would prioritise defensive weapons as a first consideration,” he said, without elaborating.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told South Korean broadcaster KBS that the Ukrainian military had its first confrontation with North Korean soldiers. (Agencies)
