SEOUL, June 28. /TASS/. South Korean arms supplies to Ukraine will require the approval of the National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Korea, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik at the symposium The Future of the Korean Peninsula organized by the Yonhap Agency.
"Recently, the government, in response to a pact between Russia and the North, said it would reconsider supplying weapons to Ukraine. There are different opinions about the joint exercise Freedom Edge by the Republic of Korea, the US and Japan. Arms deliveries or military alliance will require parliamentary consent and ratification," he said.
According to the speaker, the security situation around the Korean Peninsula is serious and of concern to him.
"But we need to remain calm and look at the situation realistically," he said. The current forum focuses on trilateral cooperation by the Republic of Korea, the US and Japan.
"We need to keep a balance in diplomacy. This is our way to survival. The balanced diplomacy pursued by all previous administrations should not be neglected," said Woo. He emphasized that occasional border armed clashes on the Korean Peninsula might trigger full-scale war.
On June 20, Chang Ho-jin, the chief of the national security office at the presidential staff said that the authorities would reconsider the issue of direct arms supplies to Ukraine.
On 19 June, during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang, a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Russia and the DPRK was signed. It envisages immediate military assistance in case of a defensive war.