SOUTH KOREA – UKRAINE Ukrainian delegation in Seoul: no to direct shipment of weapons to kyiv (for now)

Ukraine’s Defense Minister met with President Yoon Suk-yeol to share information on military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. The mystery about the war with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. So far Seoul has only sent non-lethal military equipment to kyiv, but it remains one of the world’s largest arms exporters.

Seoul () – Despite the presence of North Korean troops in the ranks of the Russian army, South Koreans remain opposed to the transfer of weapons to Ukraine. This is confirmed by the results of a survey that was published yesterday to coincide with the arrival in Seoul of a Ukrainian delegation led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who met with President Yoon Suk-yeol and South Korean officials at the head of the Defense and Intelligence agencies.

“No to the South Korean government’s plans to supply weapons to Ukraine,” read a banner displayed yesterday by a small group of protesters gathered in front of the presidential headquarters in Seoul. In an interview he gave last month to local radio station KBSUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would submit a formal request for artillery equipment and an air defense system. But yesaccording to the commentatorsthe (re)election of Donald Trump in the United States has cast doubt on the talks.

So far no official statements have been made about a possible arms transfer, although in recent days the local media They had stated that this was precisely the objective of the Ukrainian delegation’s visit. South Korea’s presidential office stated that the two sides shared information on growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea to evaluate possible joint responses to security threats.

Despite the established practice of not supplying weapons to countries in conflict, President Yoon said earlier this month that, depending on the degree of military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, South Korea could consider providing direct military support to Ukraine.

In recent days, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Rudenko, in statements to the state agency TASSdeclared for his part that “Seoul must understand that the eventual use of South Korean weapons to kill Russian citizens will completely destroy relations between our countries.” He added: “We will respond in any way we deem necessary.”

According to a poll conducted by Gallup Korea in October, 82% of South Koreans, although they say they fear growing military ties between Russia and North Korea, oppose the arms shipment. The Democratic Party of South Korea, the main opposition group, has criticized the government for statements in recent weeks about sending weapons to Ukraine, urging President Yoon to seek approval from Parliament (controlled by the Democratic Party since April).

South Korea has one of the largest reserves of artillery shells in the world and remains one of the largest exporters of military equipment; in the last two years, in addition to send weapons to the United States, has signed a series of important defense agreements with Ukraine’s neighbors (especially Poland). According to June data This year, only 10% of orders have been fulfilled so far.

Since news of the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia, Seoul has sent demining vehicles, bulletproof vests and non-lethal equipment to kyiv.

Yesterday a US official confirmed to Radio Free Asia that among the nearly 10,000 North Korean soldiers deployed in Kursk (the region of Russia against which the Ukrainian army launched an offensive in August), there were some victims after a Ukrainian attack (with missiles of British origin), but the cause is still unclear. quantity: some Ukrainian media spoke of 500 North Korean soldiers dead, but the figure has not been confirmed by any government.