Aurus, the luxury car company in question, imported at least $34 million in South Korean parts between 2018 and 2023, according to customs data seen by Reuters.
"There are various options for providing weapons, and our position on the recent developments between Russia and North Korea depends on how Russia approaches the situation going forward," the unnamed presidential official told Yonhap.
Russia will take decisions that are "unlikely to please South Korea" if Seoul decides to send arms to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters at the end of his visit to Vietnam on June 20.
Up until now, Seoul has only provided humanitarian aid to Kyiv, though it has been reported the country has indirectly supplied artillery shells via the U.S.
Seoul spotted at least 10,000 containers being shipped from North Korea to Russia, South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said. Pyongyang also sent dozens of ballistic missiles that Moscow troops launch against Ukraine, he added.
South Korea's intelligence service is conducting a review into suspicions that North Korea has provided Russia with artillery shells and other weaponry made in the 1970s, the country's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said on May 12.
Russia is currently holding a number of U.S. nationals on what are widely believed to be trumped up charges.
South Korea has imposed new sanctions against two Russian organizations, two individuals, and two ships over cooperation with North Korea, the South Korean Foreign Ministry reported on April 2.
North Korea has been shaping up to be Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.
The two countries also said they were increasingly concerned that Russia has been providing refined oil to North Korea.
A South Korean citizen has been arrested in Russia for the first time on alleged espionage charges, Russian state-owned news agency TASS said on March 11.
Leading international electronics companies, including Samsung and Xiaomi, have resumed advertising in Russia after suspending product promotion after the start of the full-scale invasion, Russian state media outlet Kommersant reported, citing TelecomDaily data.
South Korea plans to tighten export controls on Russia and Belarus for goods that could be used for military purposes, the South Korean Trade Ministry announced on Feb. 26.
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