On May 16, 2023, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, who arrived in Seoul as a special envoy for her husband, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. According to diplomatic sources, Ukraine’s first lady arrived in Seoul on May 15 and stayed for several days.
The visit of the wife of the President of Ukraine to the Republic of Korea as a special envoy could not fail to attract attention. The Korea Times was quick to note that the visit could serve as a catalyst for South Korea to provide weapons or other military support to Kyiv, despite threats from Moscow, and Professor Park Won-gon, quoted in the article, pointed out that the discussion of providing Ukraine with arms support “may not be explicitly stated in public comments.”
Currently, South Korea provides only humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine, following the principle of not including lethal weapons in assistance offered to countries in conflict. At the same time, South Korea is one of the few countries whose weapons and ammunition are compatible with the Ukrainian ones, and it has a rich stock of such ammunition: the 155mm artillery shell is especially important.
Actually, the fact that Yoon Suk-yeol adheres to the position described above, in the author’s opinion, is, if not the main, then an important reason that the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not yet begun. An effective offensive requires a powerful and protracted artillery preparation, for which you need not just a lot of shells but a huge amount of them. Meanwhile, the United States has actually exhausted the limit of ammunition that it supplied to Kyiv, using even shells from warehouses in South Korea, although the North Korean threat is positioned as one of the most important.
South Korean weapons served as replacement, but this was not enough, and therefore Yoon Suk-yeol was subjected to strong pressure, during which he made a statement that it could be difficult for Seoul to adhere exclusively to humanitarian or financial assistance if “a situation arises that the international community cannot tolerate, such as a large-scale attack on civilians, massacres or serious violations of the laws of war.”
But during Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the United States, this topic was not developed, and officials on both sides said they accepted Seoul’s position. This is important to the author because, given the status of the visit, Yoon could well have made the highfalutin statement that the cup of patience is overflowing, the ashes (of victims, whose names would have been carefully selected) are pounding in his heart, and South Korean shells are being sent to the front lines.
So they decided in Kyiv to get weapons by hook or by crook, and sent a beautiful woman as a special envoy, because her husband’s video speech at the National Assembly on April 12, 2022 had completely failed to impress: a significant part of the MPs simply did not show up, and most of those present “were absorbed by their phones.” Another detail: during their joint work, the husband was an actor, and the wife was a screenwriter.
In an exclusive written interview with the Yonhap news agency made before the visit, Zelenska called for more radical support for the fight against “Russian aggression that affects the “future of the whole world.” “We know from history what happens when the aggressor is not punished … Everyone should be interested in stopping him … It is the same as stopping street crime before it reaches your street.”
Demands for lethal weapons poured from her lips – “when there is a criminal in the house, the owners clearly need not only humanitarian aid, food and medicine, but something more radical to drive the criminal out ….”
She catalogued a raft of grim wartime stories, including a 12-year-old boy forcibly separated from his mother who is still in Russian captivity, and two siblings taken to an orphanage after his father was thrown in prison.
Referring to the idea of a ceasefire, Zelenska said that Ukraine would be satisfied only with the “peace that will result from our victory, not an abstract armistice.” “It is impossible to shake hands with the hand that has just killed your relatives and neighbors. You cannot sit down at the negotiating table with a murderer who has no regrets.”
In addition, Zelenska expressed her intention to invite President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee to “her war-torn country,” calling South Korea “a model of resilience and development.”
However, the author was drawn to a very interesting statement: “I think the world should be more afraid of losing this interest (in the conflict – author’s note) than we are, because if the aggressor wins, the whole world loses… I don’t advise anyone to lose that interest, because it is an interest in your own life and the future of the whole world.” And it is an open alarm at the fact that the world is beginning to grow openly weary of fruitless support for Ukraine, once it is abandoned, the fate of the special military operation will be decided in an obvious way.
And here’s the meeting! According to presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon during a press briefing, “The president conveyed the support and solidarity of the Korean government and people for Ukraine and expressed his condolences to the families of victims and the Ukrainian people. The president also spoke highly of first lady Zelenska’s efforts to share the horrors of the war in Ukraine with the international community and her efforts to secure aid.” This is nothing more than a routine element of diplomatic protocol, as are statements that the ROK will “actively support the Ukrainian people in close coordination with NATO member states and the international community.”
Zelenska thanked Korea for the support and solidarity and humanitarian aid the ROK had sent to Ukraine and asked that it be expanded where possible, stressing that she especially hoped for mine detection and neutralization equipment and ambulances. In addition, the first lady asked for Korean businesses to participate in postwar reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.
A curious embarrassment occurred during the visit. At first, reports of the meeting emphasized that Zelenska did not ask the Korean leadership for supplies of South Korean arms and ammunition. On the contrary, the first lady “expressed her understanding of the difficulties that South Korea may encounter in the supply of weapons.”
Later that day, however, Zelenska wrote in her Telegram channel that she and Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko “discussed with the President (Yoon) the need for air defense means to stop the missile terrorism of the aggressor country.”
In addition, although Zelenska had expressed to Yonhap her intention to invite Yoon to Ukraine, there was no official invitation during the meeting with the president. Of course, Yoon Suk-yeol’s office promised to respond accordingly if she later made such a request unofficially, but the absence of such an invitation as an element of protocol suggests that the conversation was not cordial at all.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin also met with Elena Zelenska and discussed expanding humanitarian support and ways to work together on mine clearance and post-war reconstruction. He said, “South Korea will actively respond to the Ukrainian people’s need for assistance in the face of a crisis due to the war. South Korea will play an active role in Ukraine’s reconstruction based on their development cooperation mechanism.”
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Won Hee-ryong also promised to share Korea’s post-war reconstruction know-how with Ukraine and provide it with a “platform” or rapid growth strategy based on the knowledge accumulated over the past several decades. “Korea’s experience and know-how on smart city planning, high-tech industrial complex construction and IT-powered transport networks will be shared, an opportunity for Korea’s East European peer to learn from Korea’s case and further develop their own models.” The assistance may be limited due to thorny diplomatic or military considerations, but humanitarian grounds should be more than enough to help out a peer in need, Won Hee-ryong said.
The next day, May 17, Yoon Suk-yeol gave a speech at the 2023 Asian Leadership Conference event, which was also attended by the wife of the Ukrainian president. Expectedly, Yoon criticized Russia for its “attempts to change the status quo by force and coercive diplomacy. According to him, this is a gross violation of international law and requires a consolidated and harsh response from the international community to prevent it “to become a successful precedent.” This is important wording, because all criticism of Russia’s actions from Yoon’s mouth is along the lines of “violation of a rule-based order.”
Referring to his meeting with Zelenska the day before, Yoon said that he had been informed of the suffering and human rights violations faced by Ukrainians because of the “illegal invasion” and stated that countries that share the common values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law “should never allow the illegal invasion of Ukraine and the attempt to change the status quo by force to become a successful precedent.” Again, the author would point out that if the president of the ROK wished for a change in arms supply policy, this would be a good time and place.
Zelenska also gave a speech in which she had already openly called on the world to provide her country with military aid, especially air defense systems. “When there is a criminal in your house, who has come to kill your family, humanitarian aid alone will not save the residents. The first thing to do is stop the murderer.”
On the same day, May 17, a Conference on Cooperation between South Korea and Ukraine for the Future was held in Seoul to discuss the participation of South Korean companies in infrastructure restoration projects in Ukraine. The event was organized by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) together with the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Korea. The event was attended by members of the government of different levels from Kyiv, including First Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko, Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Rostyslav Shurma and others. South Korea was represented by about 10 businessmen from Hyundai E&C, Lotte E&C, POSCO International, Hyundai Engineering, Doosan and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), KITA. The Ukrainian delegation presented the medium- and long-term reconstruction plan after the war with Russia, in which Korean companies could participate.
In her keynote speech, Yulia Svyrydenko said South Korea is a reliable partner with expertise in infrastructure projects and called for further strengthening of bilateral ties in economy and trade in the future.
Rostyslav Shurma said the proposed reconstruction projects are expected to cost about $893.2 billion, and South Korean companies could play an important role in various projects, such as building two new nuclear reactors and infrastructure for hydrogen and electricity production.
He also expressed hope for Seoul’s help in rebuilding his country’s transportation system, manufacturing clean steel products, producing electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles and developing battery technology.
In their turn, the representatives of Korean companies, who took part in the event, noted that the experience and technologies of Korean companies in the civil engineering and housing and utilities sector may contribute to the reconstruction projects in Ukraine. They also expressed hope that Korean companies would be able to demonstrate their capabilities in modernizing Ukraine by restoring social infrastructure, building nuclear power plants and developing smart cities.
Earlier that day, during a meeting with Svyrydenko, Seoul Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho signed a preliminary agreement to provide Ukraine with an additional $130 million in material assistance from the Economic Cooperation and Development Fund (EDCF). More precisely, we are talking about a long-term loan at a low interest rate to support economic and industrial development. However, as the author’s colleagues point out, any project under the EDCF must comply with the Fund’s goals, which are spelled out quite clearly “the development of the economy of the Republic of Korea through export promotion.” So, first the EDCF will get a list of requests from Kiev (be it equipment or infrastructure) and then will place orders with South Korean companies, or hire South Korean contractors, paying for their services. Ukraine will not get any real money – only the ordered equipment or facilities and a debt to service and pay back.
Thus, despite the loud stories about the separated children and the resolute condemnation of the special military operation by Yoon, the Ukrainian president’s wife left the Republic of Korea “empty-handed”. No weapons were given (and probably a counter-attack by the AFU is postponed), no gratuitous aid either, and the author got confirmation of his assumptions that the ROK president is not particularly willing to cross the red line indicated by Vladimir Putin.
The question is however that the pressure of Washington and Kiev on Seoul is clearly not abating and, having said goodbye to Zelenska, Yoon Suk-yeol is flying to Hiroshima to participate in the G7 summit, where he will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel. A separate event on the sidelines of the meeting is a summit of US, Japanese and ROK leaders.
“Clearly, Seoul’s potential military support for Ukraine is likely to feature prominently in Yoon’s diplomatic schedule in the coming weeks,” conservative ROK media outlets wrote, which means Yoon will face a new round of pressure. Whether or not he will stand firm is for the audience to find out in the author’s next texts.
Konstantin Asmolov, PhD in History, leading research fellow at the Center for Korean Studies of the Institute of China and Modern Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
