South Korea could provide more than humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine in the case "there is a situation the international community cannot condone," President Yoon Suk Yeol told Reuters in an interview published on April 19.
"If there is a situation the international community cannot condone, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, massacre or serious violation of the laws of war, it might be difficult for us to insist only on humanitarian or financial support," Yoon said.
The statement is the first time that South Korea has signaled a willingness to expand its assistance to Ukraine beyond humanitarian and financial aid, a year after it said it would not provide Kyiv with lethal aid to help it fight off Russia's full-scale invasion.
"I believe there won't be limitations to the extent of the support to defend and restore a country that's been illegally invaded both under international and domestic law," Yoon told Reuters.
"However, considering our relationship with the parties engaged in the war and developments in the battlefield, we will take the most appropriate measures."
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on April 12 said that South Korea had a "huge supply of artillery shells" that could be tapped to assist Ukraine with its dwindling supplies of ammunition.
Recently published leaked Pentagon documents suggested that Poland could have a role in the transfer of artillery shells from South Korea to Ukraine, the New York Times reported.
South Korean officials, however, were reluctant to provide the ammunition to nations at war.
