South Korea is analyzing the possibility of ssupply weapons to Ukraine following the pact signed between North Korea and Russia, which includes a mutual military assistance clause in the event of an attack on the other, the South Korean presidential office reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had already warned that it would be “a big mistake” for Seoul to make that decision.
Moscow will make “decisions that probably will not please the current leadership of South Korea” if Seoul decides to supply weapons to kyiv, Putin told reporters on Thursday.
The Russian leader spoke in Vietnam, shortly after a lavish visit to Pyongyang, where he signed a mutual defense agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Putin too warned that Moscow is willing to arm Pyongyang if the United States and its allies continue to supply weapons to Ukraine.
If Seoul really sent weapons to Ukraine, in the midst of a war since the Russian invasion of February 2022, Seoul would give a turn in its policy, which prohibits the supply of lethal weapons to countries that are at war.
“There are several options for providing weapons and our position on the recent developments between Russia and North Korea depends on how Russia approaches the situation in the future,” national security adviser Chang Ho-jin told the local news agency. Yonhap published this Friday.
So far South Korea’s assistance has been in the form of first aid kits, medicines, portable mine detectors and protective suits, but not lethal weapons.
Among the possible weapons that Seoul would be considering sending are 155-millimeter artillery shells and air defense systems, as government sources revealed to Yonhap.
The reasons for the turn
The South Korean government pointed out this possible change in its position after a meeting on Thursday of its National Security Council to assess the recent strategic agreement signed by the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, during the visit. this week from the Kremlin leader to Pyongyang.
Asked about this at a press conference from Vietnam, where he arrived after passing through the North Korean capital, Putin warned that South Korea would be making “a big mistake” if it supplies weapons to Ukraine.
“If that happens, we will make the corresponding decision, which will probably not be to the liking of the current leaders of South Korea,” declared the Russian president, without ruling out the supply of weapons to North Korea in response to the delivery of weapons to kyiv. by NATO countries.
The South Korean authorities would be evaluating this shift in weapons policy following the signing of the so-called “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement” by Moscow and Pyongyang, the full content of which has not been published by either party, except for the existence of that military clause.
The Friction on the Korean Peninsula is increasing, especially since at the beginning of the year the North decided to withdraw from the Constitution the need to carry out the reunification of the peninsula and declared the South as its main enemy.
More tension at the border
In the midst of tension between Seoul and Moscow, North Korean soldiers working in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas crossed the border briefly this Thursday, for the third time this month, to which the South responded again with warning shots that made them return to their territory.
It is the third time that a border incident of this nature has occurred this June, amid the escalation of tension between neighboring countries. On June 9 and 18, two groups of North Korean soldiers carried out similar events, which the JCS does not consider intentional either.
North Korea has been deploying troops to frontline areas since April to carry out activities such as planting mines, erecting walls that could serve as anti-tank barriers and reinforcing roads.
