South Korea could review its ban on supplying lethal arms to Ukraine in light of "North Korean military activities," President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Oct. 24.
"If North Korea dispatches special forces to the Ukraine war, we will provide support to Ukraine step by step and consider taking necessary measures for the security of the Korean Peninsula," Yoon said in a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Seoul.
"We have adhered to a principle of not directly supplying lethal weapons, but we can review this more flexibly depending on North Korean military activities," he added.
South Korean law prohibits the exporting of weapons to active conflict zones, but Seoul has repeatedly hinted that this could change in light of deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Both Yoon and Duda denounced the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia, describing it as a "direct violation of the U.N. Charter and U.N. Security Council resolutions," in comments reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
"(South Korea) will never sit idle over this and take necessary measures step by step in coordination with the international community depending on the development of N. Korea-Russia military cooperation," Yoon added.
So far, Seoul has only provided humanitarian and non-lethal military aid to Kyiv, but has been indirectly supplying Ukraine with ammunition, in particular 155mm artillery shells, via the U.S.
However, experts who spoke to the Kyiv Independent earlier this week said South Korea is unlikely to begin supplying weapons directly anytime soon, as Seoul is restricted by its own legislation.
"It's been a consistent stance because it is law. It's not just a policy choice," Jenny Town, senior fellow at the Stimson Center and director of Stimson's Korea Program and 38 North, told the Kyiv Independent.
"The president can't just say, 'Hey, I've changed my mind; here's what we're going to do now,' it really does require actual legislation to be passed."
Yoon's approval rating this week dropped to 24.1 percent, the lowest level since he took office in 2022.
Town said he lacks the bipartisan support required to pass legislation because he is in "such a weak position right now."
"If there was going to be greater military assistance to Ukraine, it's more likely to be by increasing indirect channels," Town adds.
The U.S. publicly confirmed for the first time on Oct. 23 that it had evidence that North Korean troops were in Russia, with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin saying it "remains to be seen" if they would join the fighting.
Two North Korean brigades of up to 6,000 personnel each are currently undergoing training in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 22.
Chris York
