South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday made an unannounced visit to Ukraine Saturday, his office said, where he traveled to Bucha ahead of a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“The president first toured the Bucha city massacre site near the capital, Kyiv, and the city of Irpin, where missile attacks were concentrated on civilian residential areas,” his office said.
“President Yoon will visit a memorial for the war dead to lay a wreath, and hold a summit meeting with President Zelenskiy,” it added in a statement.
Photo: AFP / handout / South Korean Presidential Office
South Korea, the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter, has sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and has also sold tanks and howitzers to Poland — a key ally for Kyiv as it battles invading Russian forces.
However, it has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to conflict zones, which it has stuck to despite repeated requests from the US, European allies and Ukraine itself for more help.
Yoon’s meeting with Zelensky — who has previously urged Seoul to consider supplying weapons to Kyiv directly — is expected to focus on South Korea’s supply of aid to the country.
Seoul, which remains technically at war with nuclear-armed North Korea, produces significant volumes of NATO-compatible weaponry, including its tanks, howitzers and deeply sought-after shell ammunition.
Seoul has hinted that it could reconsider its policy of not supplying lethal aid, with Yoon saying earlier this year that a large-scale Russian attack on civilians could tip the balance.
In May, South Korea dismissed a US media report that its artillery rounds were heading to Ukraine, saying its position on not providing lethal aid to Kyiv was unchanged.
Experts said that South Korea is in a tricky position because of its economic ties with Russia — its 15th largest trading partner as of last year — as well as Moscow’s influence over North Korea.
Although Yoon’s visit was not entirely unexpected, it is “very significant” given that few other Asian leaders have visited Ukraine, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, the Korea chair at the Brussels School of Governance.
Whether Yoon’s visit signals a shift in policy toward providing more support for Ukraine remains to be seen, but the trip suggests a stamp of approval from Kyiv for the aid that Seoul has sent so far, he said.
“If he’s going it’s because Zelenskiy allowed him to go, because he feels Korea is doing enough to warrant it,” Pacheco Pardo said, adding that it also suggested South Korea might be doing more to support Ukraine behind the scenes.
“We view Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a challenge to the international community’s freedom, human rights and the rule of law,” Yoon said upon meeting Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday, adding that South Korea could be a good partner in rebuilding Ukraine.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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