US confirms talks with Korean ammunitions maker over sales deal

Ukrainian servicemen operate an American-made 155-millimeter M777 towed howitzer at their position in the Kharkiv area, Ukraine, July 28, 2022. EPA-Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that Washington has been in discussions over the sales of ammunition to the United States by a Korean non-government industrial defense company, as Seoul maintains the position of withholding provision of lethal weaponry to Ukraine.

U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Martin Meiners told Voice of America, Tuesday (local time) that, “the U.S. government has been in discussions about the potential sales of ammunition to the United States by the Republic of Korea non-government industrial defense base.”

The comments came after Korea's Ministry of National Defense spokesperson said, “A Korean company is in discussions with the U.S. defense department over exporting ammunition.” He was responding to a question about the ministry's stance regarding the Ukrainian Ambassador's recent request for Korea to provide lethal weapons to help in its fight against invading Russian forces.

Ambassador Dmytro Ponomarenko on Monday expressed Kyiv's hope that the Korean government can find a solution that will enable it to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, specifying that his country needs NATO's 155-millimeter standard artillery shells.

In November last year, the U.S. imported 100,000 rounds of 155-millimeter shells from Korea in order to make up for the shortage of 155-millimeter ammunition inventory in the U.S. in the wake of its support for Ukraine. At that time, Seoul specified a prerequisite that the end user of the ammunition should be the U.S.

Seoul has been maintaining its position against any weapons being direct supplied to Ukraine, but instead has been focusing on humanitarian aid and reconstruction support. However, calls from Western countries have been growing for Seoul to play a more active level of support to Ukraine, and the U.S. reportedly expressed its intention to make additional purchases of Korean ammunition, recently.

With the U.S. appearing to make additional purchases for a similar purpose, the U.S. defense department spokesperson did not mention whether the ongoing discussions are related with Ukraine-bound support, Voice of America reported.

“We will not discuss specific numbers or timelines related to production capacity or inventory. We will not discuss specific equipment before it is announced,” Meiners was quoted as saying.