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South Korea unlikely to begin weapon supplies to Ukraine — expert

It is noted that the Ukraine War is now showing signs of heading toward a stalemate, thus, in reality, making it slim for Seoul to actually provide military aid to Ukraine

© AP Photo/Libkos

SEOUL, April 19. /TASS/. The Republic of Korea is unlikely to actually start supplying weapons to Ukraine, despite President Yoon Suk-yeol's statement, Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told the Korea Times newspaper on Wednesday.

"This (the president’s statement - TASS) means that South Korea has made a strong voice on supporting Ukraine - as the US and other European states have done - while having a low possibility of providing military support," Go said. "This can show that Seoul is now on the same side with its allies and friendly nations on the Ukraine issue, and clearing its ambiguities on global issues," Go believes.

"The Ukraine War is now showing signs of heading toward a stalemate, thus, in reality, making it slim for Seoul to actually provide military aid to Ukraine," the newspaper explains. "It is quite obvious that Russia will not be happy about Yoon's comments, and in response, Russia may make a gesture of strengthening its relations with North Korea," the expert speculates.

Professor Kim Joon-hyung, of Handong Global University and former chancellor of the Korean National Diplomatic Academy, thinks that Yoon's remarks will give Russia "greater freedom in helping North Korea", and this will only strengthen "the bloc of North Korea, Russia and China." In his view, Yoon's statements were an unnecessary attempt "to bring South Korea into the front lines of the Ukraine war."

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol did not rule out the possibility that Seoul might start supplying weapons to Ukraine, if there was a serious threat to civilians or if the laws of war were to be "flagrantly violated."

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that weapon supplies to Ukraine would mean Seoul's indirect involvement in the conflict. He added that there was "nothing cardinally new" about Yoon's. The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes that Seoul should give thought to what the reaction of the South Korean population might be when the latest Russian weapons appeared in the DPRK.

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