Korea denies change in Ukraine policy, despite U.S. report it provided more artillery than Europe

Ukrainian servicemen fire artillery during an anti-drone drill in the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine on Nov. 11. [AFP/YONHAP]

The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that its position of not providing lethal weapons to countries at war remains unchanged, despite a U.S. media report that South Korea supplied more ammunition for Ukraine than all European nations combined.

In an article published Monday on U.S. counteroffensive planning amid Russia's war against Ukraine, the Washington Post reported that Korea had been receptive to the "indirect" provision of 155-millimeter artillery shells to the war-torn country in discussions with senior U.S. administration officials.

According to this report, the ammunition shells, apparently transferred to Kyiv with Washington acting as a third-country intermediary, "began to flow at the beginning of the year, eventually making Korea a larger supplier of artillery ammunition for Ukraine than all European nations combined."

This addressed the Pentagon's calculation at the beginning of the year that Kyiv needed 90,000 shells or more a month, and U.S. production met barely more than a tenth of that amount.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan reportedly laid out that Korea had massive quantities of the U.S.-provided munitions, but noted Seoul would need convincing as its laws prohibited sending weapons to war zones.

The Pentagon, the report said, calculated that about 330,000 155-millimeter shells could be transferred by air and sea within 41 days if Seoul could be persuaded.

The report didn't specify the total amount of ammunition purportedly supplied by Korea. It also didn't clarify whether Korea provided weapons to help replenish U.S. stockpiles or whether Korean ammunition was used on the battlefield in Ukraine.

When asked to confirm the Washington Post report, Jeon Ha-kyu, the Defense Ministry spokesman, told reporters in a press briefing Tuesday, "There has been no change in our government's position at all," asking reporters to "understand this accordingly."

He added, without outright denying the report, "Our military has provided humanitarian aid and military supplies to protect Ukraine's freedom."

Responding to a reporter's request to clarify what "indirect" support meant, Jeon only said, "I believe it would be difficult for me to tell you what the exact meaning is."

Korea officially maintains that it will provide only non-lethal aid to Ukraine.

However, Korea could technically help the United States replenish its ammunition supply, and how the U.S. utilizes its stockpile would not be under the jurisdiction of the Korean government.

In March, the European Union pledged to provide 1 million artillery rounds over 12 months to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. The EU delivered 223,800 shells to Ukraine between February and May this year, an EU spokesperson said in August, under the first part of this plan.

However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a meeting of European defense ministers in Brussels last month that the EU's goal of supplying Ukraine with 1 million rounds of artillery ammunition is unlikely to be achieved by the end of the year.

With the United States rapidly depleting its artillery stockpile amid the protracted war in Ukraine, American officials reportedly have pressured Korea to change its existing policy against providing lethal aid to countries at war.

In April, leaked classified Pentagon documents indicated that U.S. intelligence authorities may have been spying on its allies, including on Korean presidential officials' deliberations on supplying ammunition to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

In an interview with Reuters later in May, President Yoon Suk Yeol said Korea could provide aid beyond humanitarian or financial support if Ukraine comes under large-scale attack on its civilians or Russia commits another serious violation of the laws of war.

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 24 that Korea was in the process of transferring hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine through the United States.

Regarding that report, the Korean Defense Ministry said there were some "inaccuracies" and didn't further confirm details of any confidential arms deal with the United States.

At the time, the ministry said there had been "discussion between the U.S. Department of Defense and a Korean company about the export of some ammunition."

On July 15, Yoon made a surprise visit to Kyiv during a trip to Poland and held a bilateral summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Korea pledged to provide Ukraine with a comprehensive package of security, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance through the so-called "Ukraine Peace and Solidarity Initiative."

During this summit, Yoon told Zelensky, "If we fight together with strong solidarity under the spirit of those seeking death shall live, and those seeking life shall die, we can surely protect our freedom and democracy."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]