SEOUL, November 8 ------ Major arms exporter South Korea is not ruling out providing weapons directly to Ukraine, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, signaling a possible shift in Seoul's stance on the issue. Yoon also revealed he had discussed North Korea with United States President-elect Donald Trump in a phone conversation that laid the groundwork for a meeting in the "near future."
South Korea has a longstanding policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict but indicated that could change in light of Pyongyang's deployment of troops to Russia to aid its war efforts in Ukraine. "Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we would gradually adjust our support strategy in phases," Yoon told a press conference in the capital Seoul. "This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons." North Korea has become one of the most vocal and important backers of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Seoul and the West have long accused Pyongyang of supplying artillery shells and missiles to Moscow for use in Ukraine.
The latest accusations, based on intelligence reports, indicate that the North has deployed about 10,000 troops to Russia, suggesting even deeper involvement in the conflict and triggering outcry in Seoul, Kyiv and Western capitals. Yoon said his office would monitor unfolding developments related to the operations of North Korean soldiers, and if he decided to provide weapons to Kyiv, the initial batch would be defensive. "If we proceed with weapons support, we would prioritize defensive weapons as a first consideration," he said without elaborating.
Source: manilatimes.net
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