Asia | Defending Ukraine

South Korea still refuses to send arms to Ukraine

The country’s president has global ambitions and parochial opponents

South Korean soldiers from 25th infantry division, Army Tiger demonstration brigade team, take part in their joint military exercise with U.S. army soldiers from 2nd Infantry Division, Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, January 13, 2023.   REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
Kitted up for the DMZImage: Reuters
|SEOUL


W
hen Yoon Suk-yeol talked up the need for South Korea and nato to protect “universal values” at the alliance’s meeting in June 2022, he might not have imagined how soon his words would come back to bite him. But so they have. On a visit to Seoul on January 30th Jens Stoltenberg pushed South Korea’s president to help meet Ukraine’s urgent need for ammunition. It was time, according to nato’s secretary general, for Mr Yoon to “step up”.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Arms and the Man”

From the February 4th 2023 edition

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