With NATO showing increasing support for South Korea against North Korean provocations and energy and defense agreements with Poland, President Yoon had a very good NATO summit. He concluded his trip to Europe was a final excursion to Ukraine:
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| President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks to his aides during a meeting on Korea’s heavy downpour on a train from Ukraine to Poland, Saturday (local time). Courtesy of presidential office |
President Yoon Suk Yeol wrapped up his trip to three central European nations, Sunday (local time), during which he signaled Seoul’s stronger bonds with NATO and Ukraine.
While Yoon was attending the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday in yet another act of defiance.
Following the summit and attending engagements in Poland, Yoon paid a surprise visit to Ukraine to discuss cooperation in reconstructing the war-torn nation. (…….)The highlight of the trip, however, came after Yoon finished his preannounced six-day schedule, as he redirected his itinerary to Ukraine.
Yoon was invited to visit Ukraine during Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska’s visit to Seoul in May, and the presidential office had been reviewing this while preparing for the NATO summit. Yoon made the decision during his trip and reportedly asked for Poland’s help for his visit to Ukraine during the summit with Polish President Duda, who offered a safe route via train to Ukraine.Only a limited number of presidential staff knew about this as it was kept secret even to most staffers until just hours before his departure to Ukraine.
Korea Times
During his summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Yoon expressed Korea’s empathic support of Kyiv and promised expanded military, humanitarian and educational aid to the country. Zelenskyy responded by asking for South Korea’s participation in the country’s restoration projects.
You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what Russia’s reaction to this is.
These seems like a good bet by South Korea to increase economic cooperation with the growing Eastern European power, Poland as well as prepare to help with the rebuilding of Ukraine when the war is over:
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Polish President Andrzej Duda pose for a photo during their summit talks at the presidential palace in Warsaw on July 13, 2023. (Yonhap)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that he and Polish President Andrzej Duda discussed strategic cooperation in nuclear energy, arms and infrastructure and agreed the two countries are “optimal partners” for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
Yoon made the remark during a joint press briefing following a summit with Duda, noting the two countries have already made large strides in their strategic partnership established in 2013, with bilateral trade reaching a record US$9 billion last year and South Korea becoming a key investor in Poland.
“We noted South Korean businesses’ expansion into cutting-edge industries in Poland, such as electric vehicle batteries and 5G networks, and agreed to work together to secure a future growth engine for both countries,” he said during the briefing at the presidential palace.
Yoon said he and Duda agreed that nuclear energy development is the optimal means to achieve both energy security and carbon neutrality, and to actively support cooperation between the two countries’ businesses for the successful construction of nuclear power plants in Poland.
He also said the two leaders agreed to work harder to ensure mutually beneficial cooperation in the defense industry following Poland’s purchases of 20 trillion won (US$15.6 billion) worth of K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers and FA-50 fighters from South Korea last year.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It looks like South Korea will not be providing any lethal military aid to Ukraine:
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| U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during a press conference at the Korean press center in Washington D.C., Tuesday (local time). Yonhap |
A discussion on the Ukraine war will be included on the agenda of the upcoming summit between Presidents Yoon Suk Yeol and Joe Biden, but the U.S. will not ask Korea to provide military aid to Kyiv, a high-ranking U.S. official said, Tuesday (local time).
Korea Times
“We absolutely had every expectation that the war in Ukraine will be discussed as a part of this state visit, but we certainly would not speak for President Yoon and for any additional support he may or may not be willing to provide,” U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a press conference with Korean press.
“Every nation has to decide for itself whether or not it will support Ukraine and to what degree it’s willing to support Ukraine. Some nations provide advanced lethal capabilities, some nations do not. We respect those sovereign decisions,” he said.
You can read more at the link.
The Kremlin is threatening to send advanced weapons to North Korea if the ROK sends arms to Ukraine:
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| South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during an interview with Reuters at the presidential office in Seoul, Tuesday. (Yonhap) |
Any decision by South Korea to supply arms to Ukraine would make Seoul a participant in the conflict, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after President Yoon Suk Yeol opened the door to such deliveries.
South Korea has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supplied economic and humanitarian aid to Kyiv, but unlike the United States and European allies has so far stopped short of sending weapons. (…..)
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin who frequently makes hawkish comments on Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, suggested Moscow could respond by supplying advanced weaponry to North Korea.
“I wonder what the inhabitants of this country (South Korea) will say when they see the latest designs of Russian weapons in the hands of their closest neighbors – our partners from the DPRK?” Medvedev said in a post on Telegram, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link.
It is a bit ironic that Kim Yo-jong is criticizing Zelenskiy for possibly pursuing nuclear weapons when the North Koreans know better than anyone how much they ensure regime security. If Ukraine had its own nuclear weapons deterrent the Russians would have likely never had invaded:
Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday of “gambling” with his country’s destiny by talking about developing nuclear weapons or placing U.S. nukes in Ukraine.
Kim, vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party, also accused the Ukrainian authorities of being “seized with the incurable megalomania that (they) can defeat Russia,” and “incurring a nuclear disaster threatening their existence.”
“Zelenskiy’s talk about the introduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and the independent development of nuclear weapons is a manifestation of his very dangerous political ambition to prolong his remaining days at any cost by gambling with the destiny of his country and people,” she said in an English-language statement carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
