South Korea may offer support to Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if there is a large-scale attack on civilians there, President Jun Suk-jeol told Reuters ahead of his state visit to the United States next week. It is the first time South Korea has expressed its willingness to send weapons to Ukraine, more than a year after ruling out the possibility of delivering lethal aid.
Jun said his government is considering ways to help defend and rebuild Ukraine, just as South Korea received international aid during the 1950-53 Korean War.
"If there is a situation that the international community cannot tolerate, such as a large-scale attack on civilians, a massacre or a serious violation of the rules of war, it may be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support," Jun said.
A key ally of the US and a major producer of artillery ammunition, South Korea has so far tried not to anger Russia because of its companies operating there and because of Moscow's influence on North Korea.
"I believe there will be no limit to the scope of support for the defense and reconstruction of a country that has been illegally attacked under both international and domestic law," Jun said. "However, taking into account our relationship with the participants in the war and the development of events on the battlefield, we will take the most appropriate measures".
I wonder what South Korean citizens will say when they see our weapons in North Korea, Dmitry Medvedev said
The Kremlin has said that Seoul will become a participant in the conflict if it sends weapons to Ukraine.
"Unfortunately, Seoul has taken a rather hostile position in this whole story," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "They will try to drag more and more countries directly into this conflict. But, of course, the beginning of arms delivery will indirectly mean a certain stage of participation in this conflict".
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said Moscow could respond by sending advanced weapons to North Korea.
"I wonder what the residents of that country (South Korea) will say when they see the latest examples of Russian weapons in their closest neighbors - our partners from North Korea?" wrote Medvedev on Telegram.
June is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington next Sunday to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries. Jun said at the summit he would demand "tangible results" from efforts by allies to improve responses to threats from North Korea, which has intensified military tests and last Sunday launched its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
Seoul, he said, will boost its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence analysis capabilities and develop "high-powered and ultra-high-performance weapons" to defend against Pyongyang's threats, Jun said.
"If a nuclear war broke out between South and North Korea, it would probably not only be a problem between the two sides, but the whole of Northeast Asia would probably be reduced to ashes. This must be prevented," he said.
"Sky of Ukraine safer"
The Ukrainian Minister of Defense confirmed yesterday that Kiev received the delivery of the "Patriot" air defense system.
"Our beautiful sky is becoming safer because the air defense system has arrived in Ukraine," Oleksiy Reznikov announced on Twitter.
The US agreed in October to send surface-to-air systems capable of targeting aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles, such as those used by Russia to bomb residential areas and Ukraine's power grid.
"Our partners kept their word," Reznikov said, thanking the US, German and Dutch governments, without saying how many systems had been delivered or when they arrived.
He said that he first asked for Patriot systems during a visit to the US in August 2021, five months before the invasion and seven years after Russia annexed Crimea. Experts warn that the system's effectiveness is limited and that it may not significantly change the course of the war.
German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock said yesterday that her country has sent Ukraine another air defense system "Iris-T", the Associated Press reported. Germany has promised to send four medium-range systems to Ukraine, the first of which arrived in October.
The "Financial Times" reported yesterday that Ukraine is looking for more missiles as air defense stocks run out. The paper says that Ukraine will ask for an urgent delivery of surface-to-air missiles at a meeting of military officials at the German Ramstein base on Friday.
Ukrainian officials reportedly fear that the lack of a defense system could lead to Russia launching a bombing campaign.
"Short-range air defense is a topic that Ukrainians are more and more interested in," said one European official. "If they use them all, it opens up space for the air force."
"If Russia manages to come in with unguided bombs, Ukraine will be in trouble," he added, referring not to the munitions delivered by planes.
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