Korea to help reconstruction in Ukraine

Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, left, poses for a photo with Ukrainian Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Oleksandra Azarkhina in Warsaw on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Korean companies will participate in reconstruction projects in war-ravaged Ukraine as the Korean government is pledging broad cooperation with the country in rebuilding destroyed cities.

To facilitate the cooperation, Ukraine agreed to provide the Korean government with information about 5,000 planned reconstruction projects in Ukraine at a forum in Poland Monday, attended by Land Minister Won Hee-ryong and Ukrainian Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Oleksandra Azarkhina.

In a memorandum of understanding Korea signed with Ukraine, the Korean government agreed to support Ukraine's reconstruction efforts, including building "smart cities," transit infrastructure and facilitating people-to-people exchange.

The database contains the estimated costs, types of reconstruction and responsible government agencies, and the Ukrainian government plans to make the data public next month.

Sambu Engineering & Construction clinched a memorandum of understanding with the city of Konotop to cooperate on urban redevelopment at the forum.

The builder also signed a memorandum of understanding with F1 Family Holding, a Polish construction company, to collaborate on the redevelopment projects in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

The Korean government pledged to support rebuilding destroyed cities in Ukraine by drawing upon its advanced digitalization capabilities and the country's experience in building infrastructure after the Korean War.
"The Korean government will encourage Korean public corporations and private companies to take part in rebuilding Ukraine's infrastructure, including transformation into a 'smart city' and digitalized national transportation system," Won said during the forum.

The announcement came as the Yoon Suk Yeol administration tilts more toward Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

Korea's Finance Ministry signed a preliminary agreement with Ukraine to offer low-interest rate loans through its aid fund to help the war-torn country rebuild urban infrastructure.

The reconstruction initiative is expected to be highly costly and complex. The reconstruction cost is estimated at $411 billion, according to joint research by the Ukrainian government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, and the United Nations.

However, the estimation only covers a one-year period between February 2022 through the same month this year.

On the sidelines of the forum, Won also met with Polish counterparts Andrzej Adamczyk, Poland's minister of infrastructure and construction, and Jadwiga Emilewicz, the country's special envoy for Polish-Ukrainian development cooperation.

Won said cooperation is much needed for reconstruction projects in Ukraine.
"Let's develop reconstruction plans in Ukraine into an area of bilateral cooperation to extend the already solid ties between Korea and Poland," Won said.

Adamczyk noted that both Poland and Korea share the experience of recovering from a devastating war, which can be used as a valuable resource in helping Ukraine.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]