South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his nation would increase the amount of humanitarian and nonlethal military assistance sent to Ukraine following a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv.
South Korea, a major producer and exporter of military goods, will donate more helmets and bulletproof vests to Ukraine, Yoon said at a joint press conference on July 15.
Seoul will expand the amount of humanitarian aid to Ukraine to $150 million from $100 million last year, he said.
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South Korea, the ninth-largest arms exporter, is wary of directly shipping lethal military aid to Ukraine for fear that Russia or China may boost aid to its nemesis, North Korea.
Yoon’s unannounced trip to Ukraine comes on the heels of his attendance at the NATO summit in Vilnius earlier in the week.
South Korea produces significant volumes of NATO-compatible weaponry, including tanks, howitzers, and shell ammunition -- all items in high demand by Ukraine.
Ukraine and Russia have expended shell ammunition at a much faster rate than expected amid a grueling war, triggering a search for global supplies.
The United States, which has shipped tens of billions of dollars worth of lethal military aid to Ukraine since 2022, announced earlier this month that it would send Kyiv cluster bombs because it is running low on shell ammunition.
The New York Times reported on July 15 that Ukraine has suffered significant losses of equipment, including Bradley fighting vehicles and Leopard tanks, in the first weeks of its counteroffensive, citing Western officials.
Those losses have declined in recent weeks as Kyiv changed its strategy to focus on degrading Russian forces with artillery strikes and long-range missiles rather than charging forward in armored vehicles.
Ukraine lost as much as 20 percent of its weaponry sent into battle in the first two weeks of the counteroffensive that began in June. That has fallen to about 10 recent over the past month.
South Korea in May dismissed a U.S. media report that its artillery rounds were headed to Ukraine, saying its position on not providing lethal aid to Kyiv was unchanged.
Seoul has recently sold tanks and howitzers to Poland, a staunch ally of Ukraine.
Yoon's trip is one of a few by an Asian leader to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
During his trip to Ukraine, Yoon visited the towns of Bucha and Irpin, where Russian soldiers allegedly committed war crimes, including killing civilians. Moscow denies the accusations.