On lethal aid to Ukraine, South Korea is considering its options
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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a violation of international law and the rights of Ukrainians.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said on Friday that it was necessary to ensure Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
In a speech at Harvard University’s Kennedy School on the fifth day of a state visit to mark the 70th anniversary of the United States-South Korea alliance, Mr Yoon said the Russian invasion was a violation of international law and the rights of Ukrainians.
“We should prove that such attempts will never reach success, to block further attempts being made in the future,” he said, according to simultaneous translations of his remarks.
Mr Yoon, when asked about the possibility of South Korea providing lethal aid to Ukraine, replied: “We are closely monitoring the situation that’s going on on the battlefield in Ukraine, and will take proper measures in order to uphold the international norms and international law.
“Right now, we are closely monitoring the situation and we are considering various options.”
On Wednesday, Mr Yoon met US President Joe Biden at the White House, and the United States pledged to give South Korea more insight into its nuclear planning growing arsenal of missiles and bombs.
The two also discussed the situation in Ukraine.
Mr Yoon told Reuters in an interview earlier in April, before leaving for the US, that Seoul might extend its support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it comes under a large-scale civilian attack, signalling, for the first time, a shift in his stance against arming Ukraine.
Answering another question, Mr Yoon rejected the notion that the Washington Declaration he agreed with Mr Biden meant they were accepting North Korea as a nuclear-armed state, adding that he was against treating North Korea’s possession of the weapons as a disarmament issue.
“If we were to accept nuclear weapons by North Korea, South Korea may have to possess nuclear weapons... and this would lead to a situation of disarmament. This is not something that we want to see happen,” he said.
Mr Yoon said the Washington Declaration required Seoul to keep respecting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and not acquire its own nuclear weapons.
He said there were opinions in South Korean society that Seoul should acquire nuclear weapons and has the technological capabilities for this, but it is a complex equation about politics and economics.
“We would need to give up many of the values that we’ve been upholding if we decide to develop our weapons,” Mr Yoon said.
“Those opinions saying that we need to have our own nuclear arsenal are not considering all these things.” REUTERS
