South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, offering support for the invaded country in its war with Russia while demonstrating his own nation's cooperation with NATO.
Yoon’s office said he traveled to Ukraine with his wife, Kim Keon Hee, following trips to Lithuania for a NATO summit and to Poland. It’s his first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Yoon began his statement with a mention of the U.N. forces’ support of South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War that helped repel a North Korean invasion.“The current situation facing Ukraine reminds us of the past situation of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon said. South Korea isn’t a NATO member, but like Japan, Pakistan and a handful of other countries, it’s considered a global partner of the military alliance. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Ukraine in March.
In May, when Yoon met Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska in Seoul, the president said he would expand South Korea’s nonlethal aid to Ukraine. Yoon’s office said at the time that Zelenska made no request for South Korean weapons supplies. “Yoon’s visit to Ukraine reflects his globally-minded foreign policy and shows South Korean solidarity with NATO partners in defending the rules-based international order,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said. “Seoul’s support of Ukraine includes not only humanitarian assistance, but also arms sales to backfill NATO countries providing military aid to Kyiv, and plans for post-conflict reconstruction of infrastructure.
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