South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense has rejected Kiev’s plea for anti-aircraft lethal weaponry due to a “principled stance,” ahead of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s virtual address to Seoul’s parliament.
The country’s Defense Minister Suh Wook had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Aleksey Reznikov, on Friday. During the conversation, Seoul’s military chief reiterated his country’s “principled stance” on not sending lethal weapons to the war-torn nation, outlet This Week in Asia has reported.
“The Ukrainian defense minister asked for weapons for air defense and Minister Suh politely repeated the South Korean government’s principled stance that its aid is confined to non-lethal materials,” an identified Korean official shared with the outlet.
On Monday, President Zelensky is expected to address the South Korean National Assembly, seeking to receive more support from Seoul for Kiev’s resistance to Russian troops operating within Ukraine.