▲ Rep. Lee Jae-myung, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, talks during an emergency press conference at the National Assembly on April 21, 2023. (Yonhap)

DP leader-Yoon-Ukraine

DP leader urges Yoon not to reach deal on weapons aid to Ukraine during summit with Biden

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk Yeol should not reach any deal on weapons aid to Ukraine when he holds a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington next week, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Friday.

Yoon signaled a shift in the country's policy of providing only non-lethal aid to Ukraine in an interview with Reuters earlier this week, saying it might be difficult to insist only on humanitarian or financial assistance if Ukraine comes under a large-scale attack on civilians.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has since heavily criticized Yoon, saying providing military aid to Ukraine would hurt South Korea's national interest, as Russia warned the move would mean Seoul "becoming involved in the conflict to a certain extent."

"At the Korea-U.S. summit, no form of agreement should be made on weapons provision to Ukraine," Lee, chairman of the DP, said during an emergency press conference, three days before Yoon goes on a state visit to Washington for talks with Biden.

"Should weapons provision actually take place, its repercussions and impact would be beyond imagination," he said.

Lee voiced concern that South Korean businesses could take the brunt of it.

"About 150 South Korean businesses, such as Hyundai Motor, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Lotte, have a presence in Russia and their assets amount to about 7.6 trillion won (US$5.7 billion)," he said. "Providing weapons to Ukraine could effectively mean business closure for our companies."

He also said the move could also hurt peace in Northeast Asia because it could bring North Korea and Russia closer to each other and turn relations between South Korea and Russia back to a point before the 1990 establishment of relations.

"But more than anything else, it would be self-contradicting for the only divided nation in the world to provide weapons to a conflict region," he said. "How can a country which exports killing to a war zone ask for peace on the Korean Peninsula?"

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