Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, right, talks with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, during their visit to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, Nov. 3. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea's defense ministry reaffirmed its stance, Monday, that South Korea will not provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, dismissing a report that Seoul will supply artillery shells to the war-torn country via the United States.

Citing a U.S. defense official, CNN reported, Friday (local time), that Washington intends to buy 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition from South Korean arms manufacturers to provide to Ukraine. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal, also made a similar report.

In early November, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, agreed in principle to proceed with the artillery deal during their talks in Washington, D.C., according to the defense ministry.

"Our position remains the same," Army Col. Moon Hong-sik, the ministry's acting spokesperson, said during a press briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul.

"Currently, the U.S. Department of Defense and South Korean manufacturers are in negotiations over the deal, with the end user believed to be the U.S."

The ministry's explanation came as the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has reaffirmed its position, choosing instead to focus on providing non-lethal, humanitarian aid due to a possible issue in its diplomatic ties with Russia. In fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned, October, that any assistance from South Korea to Ukraine would bring an end to bilateral relations between Seoul and Moscow.

As for the CNN report ― based on information form an unidentified U.S. official ― Moon said that it does not mean that the U.S. government has confirmed that South Korea will supply military aid to Ukraine.

The news also broke amid reports that the U.S. is running out of weapons to send to Kyiv and one of the strains on U.S. weapons stockpiles is 155-millimeter artillery ammunition that is currently used on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Compared with the U.S., South Korean weapons stockpiles are big enough given that South and North Korea are still technically at war, which helps South Korean manufacturers keep producing ammunition.

In the wake of the repeated reports of Korea possibly supplying weapons, speculation is mounting that the South Korean side may have begun negotiations with the U.S., unaware that its arms exports will be transferred to Ukraine.

Despite admitting the possibility to a small extent, Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said that it was absurd to be curious about who will be the end user.

"If the U.S. purchases the artillery shells from us based on an agreement that the U.S. will be the end user, but it changes its mind later in order to transfer them to Ukraine, we cannot take issue with the decision after selling them," Shin said.

"The theory of once an end user, always an end user does not hold true always in the international community."

According to Shin, dozens of Poland's AHS Krab, a 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzer that uses the chassis of the Korean-made K-9 Thunder, another 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzer, have been sent to Ukraine.

In addition, the K-7 silenced submachine gun, another Korean-made weapon that was exported to Indonesia in the past, was found to have been displayed at a firearms expo in Iran in 2020 although the Middle Eastern country needs approval from the United Nations Security Council each time it wants to purchase arms, the expert added.

"As evidenced by the Krabs that are already in Ukraine for use in its fight against Russia and the K-7 gun found in Iran, exporting countries have few options even if end users do something illegal with their exports," Shin said.

"It is ridiculous. Why are people talking about only artillery shells so seriously?"