Uncertainty grows over Korea’s Ukraine reconstruction plans amid probe into ex-first lady

Then-first lady Kim Keon Hee, left, shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in July 2023, before then-President Yoon Suk Yeol, second from left, attends a summit between the two countries' leaders. Courtesy of the presidential office

Questions are mounting over whether companies and the Lee Jae Myung administration will continue their efforts in Ukraine's postwar reconstruction.

Under the leadership of Lee, who has expressed skepticism about supporting the war-torn country, an investigation is also under way into former first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged involvement in manipulating the stock prices of companies once rumored to be joining the reconstruction project.

Amid these developments, the government and companies have recently adopted a low-key approach, refraining from promoting partnerships with Ukraine.

Before becoming president, Lee criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for lending money to Ukraine and opposed providing weapons to the country. In 2022, Lee attributed the war to what he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's immature foreign policies, though he later apologized to the Ukrainian people.

Last November, Lee alleged that the former first couple intentionally boosted Sambu Construction's stock price in 2023 by abusing their power to mislead investors about the firm's connections to Ukraine.

After the financial watchdog announced in April that no evidence had been found against the former first lady in the unfair trading case, a special counsel team formed last month to investigate Kim began summoning executives from Sambu and its affiliates.

The probe is focusing on a Ukraine reconstruction forum held in Poland in 2023. Despite not having plans to join the reconstruction project, Sambu attended the forum with Won Hee-ryong, then minister of land, infrastructure and transport, raising suspicions that the company colluded with the former first couple to inflate its stock price.

Amid the controversy, the land ministry has stated that its policy on the Ukraine reconstruction project remains unchanged since the Lee administration took office last month. However, the ministry has not issued any press releases related to Ukraine since April.

"Until the war ends, we will focus on official development assistance for humanitarian aid," said the head of the ministry's overseas construction policy division.

President Lee Jae Myung looks at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy following a group photo session at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, June 17. Yonhap

Progress among major companies cooperating with Ukraine has also been slow.

"We will proceed with projects in Ukraine only if the war is completely over," said an official from one of the Korean construction firms that signed partnership agreements with Ukrainian institutions for postwar reconstruction.

An official from a machinery and equipment manufacturer, which has ties with the Ukrainian government, said participation by construction and telecommunication firms is a prerequisite for its involvement in the reconstruction project.

"Each company's participation in the reconstruction project actually depends on the government’s decision," he said.

In 2023, the Ukrainian government estimated the economic value of the postwar reconstruction project at $900 billion. The United Nations, however, forecast earlier this year that it will cost $524 billion to rebuild the war-torn country.