Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday urged South Korea to reconsider its rule against exporting arms to countries in conflict and help arm Ukraine to repel a Russian aggression.
“I urge the Republic of Korea to continue and step up certain issues of military assistance,” he said during a question-and-answer session after his speech at the Choi Institute for Advanced Study in Seoul.
“Several NATO allies that had policies of never exporting arms to countries in conflict are now changing their policies,” Stoltenberg said, adding that countries that have changed their arms export policies to help Ukraine He cited Germany, Norway and NATO applicant Sweden.
“After the brutal aggression into Ukraine, these countries changed their policies. As you saw in Ukraine when you were facing a brutal aggression, Russia, a great power, Because they found themselves invading another country, if we believe in freedom, if we believe in democracy, if we don’t want to win against tyranny and tyranny, they need weapons.
“When the full-scale aggression took place last year, many countries changed their policies. Because I realized that it is to provide
Military aid to Ukraine got a big boost last week when Germany announced it would send 14 While transporting Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, it also allows other countries with Leopards, including Norway, to supply them.
The Leopard 2 is an agile and agile next-generation tank, despite its highly protective armor and long-range firepower. It is considered the best in the world, even better than what Russia has deployed in Ukraine.
In addition to the Leopard, Ukraine is set to receive heavy armor from both US sending 31. Britain promised M1 Abrams tanks and 14 Challenger tanks.
Some experts say South Korea’s K2 Panther also belongs to that group of top tanks and could be useful for Ukraine.
However, South Korea’s presidential decree implementing South Korea’s foreign trade law states that its exports can only be used for “peaceful purposes” and “must not affect international peace, security and national security.” I’m here.
South Korea is also a signatory to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which was ratified in 2014 and aims to strictly control who can acquire weapons and under what conditions they can be used.
But that doesn’t mean South Korea’s weapons industry doesn’t see a role in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
In December, a US defense official told CNN that the US intended to purchase 100,000 rounds of ammunition from a South Korean arms manufacturer for supply to Ukraine.
The bullets will be forwarded to Ukraine via the United States, allowing Seoul to keep its pledge not to send lethal aid to the war-torn country.
And Poland, one of Ukraine’s largest military donors, signed a major arms deal with South Korea last year involving hundreds of tanks and howitzers and dozens of fighter jets.
The deal would allow Poland to exchange many of the weapons Warsaw sent to Kyiv.
Stoltenberg said on Monday that democracies must stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Kyiv to win the war.
“Because if [Russian] president [Vladimir] If Putin wins, the message to him and other authoritarian leaders will be that you can get what you want by using force. It will make us more vulnerable.”
