South Korea may expand its support to Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid if it faces a large-scale attack on civilians, President Yoon Suk-yeol said, signaling for the first time a change in its stance against arming Ukraine.

In an interview with Reuters ahead of his state visit to the US next week, Yoon said the government in Seoul is looking at how it can help protect and rebuild Ukraine, just as South Korea received international aid during the 1950-53 Korean War. .

“If a situation arises that the international community cannot approve, such as any large-scale attack on civilians, a massacre or a serious violation of the laws of war, it may be difficult for us to insist on humanitarian or financial support alone,” he said. Yun said.

This is the first time Seoul has hinted at a willingness to supply weapons to Ukraine, more than a year after ruling out lethal aid.

A key U.S. ally and major producer of artillery munitions, South Korea has so far tried to avoid antagonizing Russia over its companies operating there and Moscow’s influence over North Korea, despite growing pressure from Western arms suppliers.

A nuclear war between South Korea and North Korea?

“I believe there will be no limit to the amount of support to defend and rebuild a country that has been illegally invaded, both under international and national law,” Yun said.

“However, given our relationship with the belligerents and developments on the battlefield, we will take the most appropriate measures.”

Yun will pay an official visit to the United States next week to participate in a summit with US President Joe Biden to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance between the two countries.

During the summit, Yoon said he would seek “tangible results” in allied efforts to improve responses to emerging threats from North Korea, which last week stepped up military tests and launched its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.

Seoul, for its part, will strengthen its surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence analysis capabilities and develop “highly effective and powerful weapons” to repel North Korean threats, Yoon said.

“If a nuclear war breaks out between South Korea and North Korea, it’s probably not just a problem between the two sides, but the whole of Northeast Asia is likely to be reduced to ashes. This must be stopped,” he said.

South Korea has provided Ukraine with $100 million in humanitarian aid since the start of the war, but has so far said it will not provide lethal aid to Kyiv.

South Korea secretly helped Ukraine

Although it officially says it does not help Ukraine militarily, South Korea has tacitly approved the transfer to Kyiv of some weapons that contain components produced in the Asian country, Reuters reported, citing an official in Seoul and one in Poland.

This would be the first official confirmation that an Asian country was at least indirectly involved in the supply of weapons to Ukraine in the form of “AHS Krab” howitzers transferred to Kyiv from Warsaw.

Officials from the two countries previously declined to comment on the terms under which the howitzers were delivered, fueling speculation that the government in Seoul either approved the transfer or ignored Poland’s statement.

The executive branch, led by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, offered Ukraine 18 Krab howitzers late last spring, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced on June 9 that they are ready for front-line combat.

How military components produced in South Korea ended up in Ukraine

Kim Hyun-cheol, director of the Europe-Asia division of the International Cooperation Bureau, an agency of the Seoul government, confirmed to Reuters that the South Korean agency tasked with overseeing the purchase and sale of weapons has reviewed and approved the transfer of these howitzers to the chassis, which is manufactured in the Asian country.

“We reviewed all the documentation and possible problems (…) and then made a decision to grant an export license to Poland,” he told Reuters in an interview at the agency’s headquarters in Seoul.

He later returned to emphasize that the government’s position was not to transfer weapons systems to Ukraine.

The information was confirmed by Jacek Matuszak, a representative of Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa, which unites 50 weapons production enterprises in Poland, including Huta Stalowa Wola, which produces “Krab” howitzers.

“We got that approval for Ukraine, and we got it last year before signing the sales contract for Ukraine,” he told Reuters.

Putin accused Seoul of supplying weapons to Kyiv

Speaking to a German news agency, the defense ministry in Seoul said the Crab howitzers contained components made in several countries and that the transfer did not involve a complete weapon system made in South Korea.

“AHS Krab” is a self-propelled howitzer, created by combining the “K9 Thunder” chassis produced in South Korea, a turret manufactured by BAE Systems of Great Britain, a 155 mm main gun by French manufacturer Nexter Systems and a system for adjusting the shot made in Poland.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused South Korea of ​​supplying weapons to Ukraine, saying the decision would destroy bilateral relations. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol then denied this information.

His administration says it has no plans to change that policy. Yun also said that South Korean law makes it very difficult to sell weapons to countries that are involved in an active conflict.

Reuters also notes that the government in Seoul has also tried not to anger Russia amid its strained relations with China and North Korea.