Yoon-Biden summit unlikely to address military aid to Ukraine

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sun, December 10, 2023 | 07:33

Politics

Yoon-Biden summit unlikely to address military aid to Ukraine

Posted : 2023-04-25 16:09

Updated : 2023-04-26 07:57

President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrive at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Monday (local time), for a six-day state visit. Joint Press Corps

By Kang Seung-woo

In the lead-up to President Yoon Suk Yeol's trip to the United States for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, there has been growing speculation that Yoon may arrive at an "ill-advised" decision to extend Korea's support for Ukraine beyond humanitarian and economic aid to encompass the much-heralded provision of lethal weaponry in return for his state visit, the first time in 12 years by a Korean president.

However, according to a statement from the presidential office, Wednesday, the issue is not likely to be discussed during the summit.

The conjecture seems backed up by Yoon's hinting in a recent interview with foreign media at the possibility of providing arms to the war-torn nation. Ahead of the interview, the Korean government had stuck to a stance of offering only humanitarian and economic assistance despite growing calls from the United States and the European Union as well as Ukraine itself.

However, Yoon's office said the issue is not currently on the agenda for the Yoon-Biden summit.

"On whether weapons support will be on the agenda, I will say that as of now, it will not," a presidential official told reporters in Washington, D.C., Monday (local time).

"It's fully possible to talk about the two countries' positions on the war in Ukraine as a global issue, and I think it's only normal for any leader of a country to do so at this point in time."

Terence Roehrig, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, also "strongly" suspected that this item will be on the agenda at some point during the summit "not only because of the importance of the issue but also because of the way the issue became public."

"Whether a formal pronouncement is part of the joint statement and what level of detail is included remains to be seen," Roehrig said.

"Given the sensitivity of the issue, there may be few specifics in the joint statement beyond condemning Russian actions and declarations of support for Ukraine ― more likely indicators will be the follow-on actions that are taken by the Korean government."

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr