RT.com
26 May 2023, 16:13 GMT+10
Seoul said the Wall Street Journal report contained ?inaccurate parts,? but declined to elaborate
South Korea has agreed to send hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine under a "confidential arrangement" with the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move would mark an about-face for Seoul, which has been reluctant to authorize lethal aid to Kiev.
Under the reported agreement, South Korea will first ship the munitions to the US, which will then forward them on to Ukraine, sources told the Journal on Wednesday. Seoul and the Pentagon have so far declined to confirm the transfer, though both acknowledged ongoing talks on the issue.
However, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-kyu said there were "inaccurate parts" in the WSJ report during a press briefing later on Wednesday, though did not specify further.
"There have been various discussions and requests, and our government will take appropriate measures while comprehensively reviewing the war and humanitarian situation in Ukraine," Jeon said.
While South Korea initially said it would send munitions last November under another behind-the-scenes deal with the US, it later "got cold feet" after the agreement was reported in the media, American officials told the outlet. At the time, Seoul reportedly feared the decision would violate its policy against providing anything beyond non-lethal aid to Ukraine, though officials were also hesitant to deny a request from Washington, a close ally.
Since then, the Pentagon has scrambled to meet Ukraine's massive demand for shells, even tapping into US-owned weapons stocks in Israel, Germany, Kuwait and South Korea to make up for the shortage. The White House has authorized the transfer of more than 2 million 155-millimeter shells to Kiev since the conflict with Russia escalated last year, exhausting much of the US supply.
South Korea's alleged reversal comes soon after President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the US capital last month, where he vowed to support Kiev and take all "proper measures in order to uphold the international norms and international law." He gave no indication that Seoul would approve transfers of artillery rounds, however.
The Journal suggested the supply of deadly munitions by South Korea would allow US officials to put off the provision of American-made cluster bombs, which Ukraine has repeatedly requested throughout the conflict. Human rights groups have criticized the use of such weapons, as they often leave behind undetonated "bomblets" which pose a hazard to civilians, sometimes even years or decades after a conflict is over. They are banned by more than 110 nations under a 2010 treaty, though the US, Ukraine and Russia are not signatories.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationBATON ROUGE, Louisiana: In a Louisiana election where more than 43,000 people cast their ballots, a candidate for parish sheriff ...
LIVINGSTON, Kentucky: This week, railroad operator CSX said a train derailment involving 16 cars, two of which spilled molten sulfur ...
Fifty-seven journalists have been killed as of Saturday as a result of Israel's war on Gaza, which has extended to ...
TEL AVIV, Israel - Following Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's statement on Emily Hand's release, Israel's foreign minister says he summoned the ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The White House says U.S. authorities have foiled a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the U.S., ...
BANGKOK, Thailand: In response to heightened Chinese activity in the South China Sea, the United States and the Philippines have ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's national weather service, Met Eireann, has warned that 'snow is possible' for Ireland in the upcoming days, ...
AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands: As European carmakers aim to produce more cost-effective batteries and more affordable electric vehicles (EV), Stellantis and ...
Thousands of Buryats, a distinctive ethnic minority in Russia, fled tsarist conscription during World War I as well as the ...
Stockholm has done everything it could to get Ankara's consent, the country's FM told journalistsTürkiye's ratification of Sweden's accession to ...
The adoption of the technology is correlated with reduction in wages, according to newly published researchThe widespread adoption of artificial ...
Cheaper prices and improving payment mechanisms are attracting new buyersIndia plans to increase purchases of Russian coking coal, which is ...