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Yuri Kim, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs. (courtesy of the US Department of State)

A senior US State Department official voiced her hope that South Korea will provide Ukraine with air defense and other materials needed to protect itself against Russia.

“We've seen the ROK [South Korea] provide Ukraine with not just political support but actual defense support, and we'd like to see more of those materials going over to Ukraine,” said Yuri Kim, the principal deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs with the State Department, in an online forum organized by the Institute for Corean-American Studies.

Kim was responding to a question about whether she thinks South Korea ought to provide more munitions and other defense materials to Ukraine.

Thus far, South Korea has sent Ukraine mine clearance equipment, emergency vehicles, field rations and other military supplies under the principle of only providing nonlethal assistance.

Kim noted that South Korea is one of more than 50 countries in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of countries that are supporting Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion.

In regard to the supplies the US is pushing coalition members to provide, Kim said, “The biggest need right now is 155-mm artillery.” She said that right now Ukraine can only provide soldiers with 15-20 rounds of ammunition each day.

As for whether the US had specifically requested South Korea to provide weaponry, she would only say the US has stressed the importance of air defense to all coalition members and had made “this request [. . .] very broadly.”

“Our basic position of not providing lethal weaponry to Ukraine remains unchanged. We’ll continue to review various ways of supporting Ukraine through close communication with friendly nations according to the progress of the war,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in the daily press briefing on Tuesday.

By Cho Ki-weon, staff reporter

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