South Korea did not contribute to the Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Tomas Kopecny, Czech government commissioner for the restoration of Ukraine, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Nov. 19.
Czechia unveiled its initiative to jointly purchase artillery shells for Ukraine from undisclosed third countries earlier this year, amid shell shortages caused mainly by delays in U.S. assistance.
In October, Ukraine received over one-third of the 500,000 155 mm shells expected to be delivered under the Czech initiative by the end of 2024.
South Korea did not provide artillery shells of its own production, nor did it make financial contributions to the purchase of shells from other countries under the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine from third countries, according to Kopecny.
"So far, South Korea has not participated in the Czech initiative. From a financial point of view, they were not among the 16 countries that contributed, and they were not among the supplier countries from which we received the shells. This is the situation as of now," Kopecny said.
Thus, the official denied the information previously published in the German media Bild that South Korea was probably one of the ammunition suppliers under the Czech initiative.
Earlier, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that South Korea had no plans to supply 155 mm shells to Ukraine amid reports of North Korean soldiers participating in the war.
Since the start of the full-scale war though, South Korean shells have reportedly been sent to Ukraine, but this was done so indirectly, through undisclosed U.S. purchases.
On Oct. 22, Seoul announced a possible revision of its support for Kyiv, including the provision of lethal weapons and personnel, depending on the situation in Ukraine.
Sonya Bandouil
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