South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after arriving at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine, in Kyiv on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by South Korea’s presidential office.
WARSAW, July 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Saturday he agreed to provide Ukraine with a package of security, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a surprise visit to the war-torn country.
Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine earlier in the day following a three-day official visit to Poland and toured the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that was destroyed in large-scale missile attacks, according to his office.
In a joint press conference, Yoon expressed his deep condolences to the Ukrainian people killed in Russia’s illegal invasion, saying he hoped his visit would give strength to a struggling nation that he said reminded him of South Korea’s own history of invasion by North Korea some 70 years ago.
“If we strongly band together and fight, I am certain we will be able to defend our freedom and democracy,” he said during the press conference at the presidential palace in Kyiv.
“The Republic of Korea will be a partner in Ukraine’s construction of freedom, peace and prosperity, and furthermore be a reliable partner contributing jointly with Ukraine to freedom, peace and prosperity in the world,” he said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) and first lady Kim Keon Hee visit a residential area destroyed in the war in Irpin, Ukraine, on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
Yoon said he agreed with Zelenskyy to provide a comprehensive package of security, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, dubbed the “Ukraine Peace and Solidarity Initiative,” which will include additional military supplies that are larger in scope than last year’s and the effective implementation of US$150 million worth of humanitarian aid, or $50 million more than last year.
This year, South Korea will also work with the World Bank to provide new financial assistance and encourage key developing nations to participate in a Peace Formula Summit proposed by Zelenskyy to implement the 10 points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, he said.
On reconstruction, Yoon said the two leaders agreed to expand cooperation between their governments and businesses, such as by swiftly identifying and pushing bilateral projects in infrastructure and construction using a $100 million fund set aside by South Korea.
The two countries will also increase cooperation to establish on- and offline educational programs in Ukraine, rebuild educational facilities destroyed in the war, and set up a Yoon Suk Yeol-Zelenskyy scholarship program to help Ukrainian students in South Korea complete their studies and offer similar benefits to more students.
Zelenskyy thanked South Korea for its continued security and humanitarian assistance, and added he hopes for South Korea’s participation in the construction of a recovery center in Ukraine.
Yoon’s visit was a highly secretive and high-risk operation that sent a strong message of support for Ukraine.
A presidential official told reporters the visit came at Zelenskyy’s invitation, and followed internal deliberations over security and safety, and the need for a visit, before Yoon made the final decision.
“We are preparing comprehensive and concrete measures for assistance and cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea in keeping with the principles South Korea has maintained so far,” the official said, adding the summit became necessary for detailed discussions on cooperation during the war and in the post-war reconstruction effort.
The official said South Korea understood the invitation as a reflection of Ukraine’s expectations for South Korea in terms of its role in the protracted war against Russia.
Yoon has shown strong support for Ukraine in line with his campaign for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in solidarity with like-minded nations.
South Korea’s assistance to Ukraine has included military supplies, such as first-aid kits, medicine, portable mine detectors and protective suits, but the country has denied any request for lethal weapons.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and first lady Kim Keon Hee bow their heads in tribute at the grave of a victim of mass killings in Bucha, Ukraine, on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
This was the second Yoon-Zelenskyy meeting after one held on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.
At the time, Yoon promised additional non-lethal aid, including demining equipment and ambulances.
Controversy arose earlier this year after Yoon told Reuters in April that it might be difficult to insist only on humanitarian or financial support in the event of large-scale attacks on civilians, massacres or serious violations of the laws of war.
The same month, news reports on a set of leaked Pentagon documents alleged the presidential office grappled with a U.S. request for ammunition for Ukraine in March.
Yoon is the first South Korean president to visit a battlefield where the country’s troops have not been deployed, according to his office.
Former President Park Chung-hee visited Vietnam during the Vietnam War, while former President Roh Moo-hyun made an unannounced stop in Iraq in 2004.
Yoon’s visit to Ukraine came at the end of a two-leg trip that earlier took him to Lithuania for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit and then to Poland for an official visit.
Prior to meeting with Zelenskyy, Yoon laid a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.
(Yonhap)
