It is reported that after the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Zelensky called on all "democratic countries" to support Ukraine and provide them with the materials, weapons, etc. needed for combat. Many countries responded to this aid request. Japan and South Korea in East Asia have crossed the boundary of "assistance weapons" and provided drone and other equipment to Kiev . It was fiercely countered by the Russian side and interrupted all negotiations in territorial areas. The South Korean government only provided bulletproof helmet , tents, blankets, military rations and other materials to Ukraine, and did not cross this line.
reported that South Korea was also involved in the "Israel military aid incident" in the middle of this month. Originally, an official from Israeli tried to get the government to provide military assistance to Ukraine. After the Russian government responded, Israel clearly emphasized that they refused to provide assistance to Ukraine and all feasibility discussions. But later, Western media exposed that in contrast to Israel, South Korea's arms exports have reached US$13 billion in 9 months, most of which have been sold to "democratic countries". Poland is also their big customer. Eastern European countries led by Poland have sent a lot of supplies to Ukraine, which is equivalent to South Korea's "indirect aid" to Ukraine.
27, Russian President Putin said in a speech at the Valdy forum: If South Korea aid weapons to Ukraine, South Korea-Russia relations will come to an end. This is also the first time that the Russian government has "named warning" to South Korea. The outside world speculated that it was related to the large amount of arms they sold to the West, and "Korean artillery shells" also appeared on the Ukrainian battlefield. In less than a day, South Korean President Yoon Seo-yeol immediately responded to this matter. He said that South Korea has never provided weapons of destruction to Ukraine and has been working with the international community to provide humanitarian and peaceful assistance to Ukraine; and South Korea is willing to "maintain friendly relations" with countries including Russia. As for the issue of arms sales, it is purely South Korea's sovereignty.
Some analysts believe that Putin's reminder shows that Russia-South Korea relations have been tested; first, South Korea's large-scale export of arms to "aggressive countries" to "aggressive countries" and these countries will give them to Ukraine. Secondly, the Russian government is quite sensitive to the export of Ukrainian weapons, and it is regarded as cooperation with the Zelensky government, so the "sovereignty issue" they explained obviously cannot satisfy Russia; then South Korea has only two ways to go: one is to continue to act as an arsenal and export a large amount of equipment needed to aid Ukraine to the West; the other is to listen to Putin's warning and reduce export output. If the status quo continues to maintain the status quo, Russia may respond in a more direct way.
As for what "direct way", Putin said this when mentioning the issue of South Korea's weapons aid: "If we resume military cooperation with their northern neighbors, what will South Korea think?" This means that Russia's warning is a reminder of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Don't forget that they also have troubles from around them; combined with the escalation of the situation on the peninsula since September, South Korea's "Northern neighbors" have repeatedly tested the missiles and live-fire shooting, and their international situation is also not optimistic. There is a comment on this: "Seoul continues to play with fire and will likely burn you, because although Russia has no way to deal with countries like the United States, Britain and Poland for the time being, there is no big problem with South Korea. Just shaking the sword hanging on their heads is enough to make Yoon Seo-young sleep uneasy."
