hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea speaks to Reuters on April 18 from the presidential office in Seoul’s Yongsan District. (Reuters/Yonhap)

For the first time, President Yoon Suk-yeol has publicly mentioned the possibility of providing Ukraine with arms support. This suggests a change in South Korea’s original position on this issue, which has centered around a strict policy of supplying no military aid.

It is highly inappropriate for the president to make such public remarks given the international situation South Korea is currently facing. It gives rise to major concerns that the South Korean side could end up accepting all of Washington’s unilateral demands that are only aimed at furthering US foreign policy goals at the bilateral summit next week.

Tensions began to rise as soon as Yoon’s remarks were made public, with Russia promptly voicing its strong opposition to this apparent 180-degree switch made by Seoul.

Yoon made the troubling remarks in an interview with Reuters published on Wednesday. “If there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre or serious violation of the laws of war, it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support,” Yoon said.

Although he attached preconditions to South Korea sending lethal aid, the president did clearly mention the possibility of his government changing its original position of not providing Ukraine with lethal weapons.

Ukraine, the US, NATO, and others have long been calling on South Korea to provide arms to Ukraine, but the government has so far refused, citing its domestic policy of prohibiting arms exports to warring countries.

This policy also took into consideration the reality of the possibility of Russian security and economic retaliation, especially the possibility of Moscow expanding aid to Pyongyang including in fields such as military technology.

As Yoon’s comments were made public, the response from Moscow was swift. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that South Korea sending weapons supplies to Ukraine “would imply a certain involvement in this conflict.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin had already threatened Seoul last year, saying that South Korea-Russia relations would be ruined if the former decided to provide Ukraine with weapons.

There have been recent reports pointing to the possibility that South Korea may already be militarily supporting Ukraine by having its artillery shells sent there indirectly via the US and Poland. Still, the government in Seoul has never admitted this officially, given the sensitive and potentially destructive nature of such a policy.

It is difficult to understand why Yoon chose an interview with foreign media to bring up this potentially major shift in policy.

It’s possible that this could be a message to the US ahead of the upcoming bilateral summit or that Kim Tae-hyo, first deputy director of the National Security Office, may have already discussed this in advance with Washington during his visit to the US last week.

Meanwhile, the Yoon government is maintaining a hard-line policy relying on the US strategy to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue, but has failed to make headway so far. Similarly, little progress has been made on the economic front including on semiconductors, electric vehicles and batteries.

While the Yoon administration is accepting all of Washington’s demands, it remains unclear what exactly Seoul stands to gain from this approach, besides US promises to “strengthen” the alliance. It is also unclear what exactly the Yoon government is demanding of the US. With just days left before Yoon’s state visit to the US, the Korean public is increasingly concerned.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]