Presiden Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit is particularly significant since few other Asian leaders have visited Ukraine.
KYIV
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine, adding that South Korea would provide it with a bigger batch of military supplies and humanitarian aid. The South Korean president made a surprise trip to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The surprise trip comes on the heels of Yoon’s trip to Lithuania for a NATO alliance summit as well as a visit to Poland earlier in the week.
South Korea is an ally of the United States and is the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter, according to the think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The country, however, is also wary of the influence has over North Korea and has thus been resisting pressure from the West to help arm Ukraine directly. In a press conference, Yoon said South Korea plans to provide “a larger scale of military supplies” to Ukraine this year, following last year’s provision of non-lethal supplies such as body armour and helmets. He also said South Korea also plans to provide Ukraine with $150 million in humanitarian aid this year, following about $100 million given in 2022. The country would also cooperate with Kyiv in projects such as infrastructure construction, which can be backed by concessionary loans from South Korea, he said.
“We are discussing everything that is important for the normal and safe life of people,” Zelenskiy said, thanking Yoon for “powerful” support. As per Seoul, President Yoon visited Bucha and Irpin, towns close to the capital where Russian soldiers are accused of war crimes against civilians, which Moscow denies. The president also said that his administration was preparing to send demining equipment and ambulances, following a request from Ukraine, and will join NATO’s aid fund for Ukraine.
This visit is particularly significant since few other Asian leaders have visited Ukraine.
However, according to Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Korea chair of the Brussels School of Governance, how much of a policy shift towards providing more support for Ukraine remains to be seen. That said, Yoon’s trip shows Kyiv’s approval for aid sent so far. “If he’s going, it’s because Zelenskyy allowed him to go because he feels Korea is doing enough to warrant it,” Pacheco Pardo said, adding that it also suggested South Korea may be offering more support behind the scenes. Back in May, Zelenskyy had asked Yoon to boost military support. As of Saturday, South Korea has safely delivered the safety equipment and humanitarian aid that Ukraine needs, including mine detectors.
The South Korean defence ministry stated that while it was discussing exporting ammunition to the US, parts of media reports that Seoul had agreed to send artillery rounds to the US to be delivered to Ukraine were inaccurate. In 2022, South Korean arms sales jumped to over $17 billion from $7.25 billion in 2022, including a $13.7 billion arms deal with Poland—it’s biggest ever—supplying rocket launchers and fighter jets.