text/Feiyun
According to overseas websites, on October 27 local time, Russian President Putin warned at a meeting: If South Korea provides military assistance to Ukraine, Russia-South Korea relations will be damaged .
Why did you suddenly talk about this?
Because the Russian side learned that the government of Yoon Seo-yeo is planning to change its policies recently to provide weapons and ammunition to Ukraine .
Although so far, Russia and South Korea are still "friendly relations", once South Korea begins to "pass the knife" to Ukraine, Russia-South Korea relations are likely to be no longer the same and even become tense.
Putin asked back: "If we resume military cooperation with your northern neighbors, what will South Korea think?"
You should know that the current situation on the peninsula is not optimistic. Although there is no conflict between the two sides, they are frequent military actions and full of gunpowder. The example given by Putin is very intuitive and powerful, and is clearly telling South Korea: the current Russian-South Korea relations in are very dangerous. Whether the status quo depends on how the South Korean government chooses .
In response to Putin's remarks, South Korean President Yoon Seo-yeol responded at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 28th, emphasizing two aspects:
1. South Korea has never provided weapons of destruction to Ukraine.
2. This matter is purely a matter of South Korea's national sovereignty.
But this response obviously cannot dispel Russian doubts.
Although South Korea has not directly provided shells to Ukraine before, it may not have done so in the future. Moreover, Yoon Seo-yeol also raised this matter to the "issues of national sovereignty." In other words, how does South Korea do it? Russia does not care about . Obviously, there are signs of danger in South Korea.
You should know that for the Russian army, one of the biggest variables in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is that the United States and the West have increased their military aid to Ukraine. These weapons and ammunitions are used to the battlefield, consuming the lives and combat effectiveness of the Russian army, which the Russian side hates.
As a member of the US and Western camp, South Korea has certainly followed the United States, but for national interests, South Korea has been relatively cautious on this issue before. South Korea has provided two rounds of aid to Ukraine, but the scope of aid only includes at most bulletproof helmets , bulletproof vests , military rations, tents, blankets and other non-destructive military supplies .
Ukrainian President Zelensky Several months ago, he also publicly sought assistance from South Korea for weapons of destruction, but South Korea's attitude has not changed and he still adheres to his original position.
However, this does not mean that South Korea can keep sticking with .
A few months ago, South Korea began to have bad ideas - Since South Korea is not convenient to provide weapons to Ukraine directly, why not sell weapons to those Western countries , and then provide them to Ukraine by Western countries?
After all, Ukraine has a large demand for weapons, and many Western countries have a "gap" of weapons due to support Ukraine. South Korea does this, on the one hand, it can earn income from selling weapons, and on the other hand, it can also be regarded as "indirectly" aiding Ukraine . can not only relieve the pressure from the United States and Ukraine, but also not offend Russia .
Canada once asked the South Korean side if it could sell 155mm shells? If possible, Canadians consider purchasing 100,000 pieces. In this regard, the result of the discussion of the South Korean Ministry of Defense is "yes". It is worth mentioning that before this, Canada had just provided 20,000 of these shells to Ukraine for the use of the 155mm US-made artillery of the Ukrainian army.
Also According to the South Korean Ministry of Defense, , the export volume of arms in the first nine months of this year has reached US$13 billion, four times the average annual export volume before 2020, among which Polish is the largest buyer .
As we all know, Poland has always served as the "anti-Russia" vanguard army among NATO countries. Since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland has ranked first in the number of mercenaries sent to Ukraine, and countless weapons of destruction have been sent. Most of the weapons sold by South Korea to Poland are likely to appear on the Ukrainian battlefield.
After Yoon Seok-yeol came to power, the South Korean government changed its "balanced diplomacy" strategy during the Moon Jae-in's period and began to gradually move closer to the United States and Japan. Two months ago, NATO approved the South Korean request and set the South Korean Embassy in Belgium as the NATO representative office .
This means that NATO has further expanded its influence in Asia through South Korea. One of the major reasons why the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out is that NATO expanded eastward, threatening Russia's national living space. Therefore, the impact of South Korea's proximity to NATO on Russia-South Korea relations is self-evident.
What's more, although South Korea did not directly provide shells to Ukraine, in the face of the pressure from the United States, South Korea is not indifferent, but is looking for "a way to avoid stimulating Russia's military aid". In essence, is still an "anti-Russia" behavior . Russia knows all this.
The situation in Russia and Ukraine is escalating now. The Russian army's counterattack in Khlsong has just made progress. If Ukraine is allowed to obtain more external assistance, the cost of casualties paid by the Russian army on the battlefield will be greater.
Once Germany also said that it would never provide weapons of destruction to Ukraine, but under the continuous pressure from the United States and the West, Germany ultimately failed to persevere. In terms of military aid to Ukraine, will the South Korean government follow the old path of Germany?
Putin's words sounded the alarm for Yoon Seo-yeol. If you dare to hand over a knife to Ukraine, don't blame Russia for being rude.
