Leaked Pentagon documents purportedly show that senior government officials in South Korea have debated selling weapons to the U.S. that could ultimately be sent to Ukraine.
The documents, which allegedly feature intercepted communications between two senior advisors to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, reveal that South Korean leadership is torn between its commitment to provide artillery to the U.S. and its desire to stay out of the war in Ukraine.
- Last year, South Korea agreed to sell artillery shells to the U.S. on the condition that they not be sent to Kyiv.
- According to the leak, on March 1, foreign affairs secretary Yi Mun-hui said that the South Korean government was concerned that "the U.S. would not be the end user" of the ammunition.
- South Korean officials were concerned that President Joe Biden could call his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol, to try to influence the country's foreign policy toward Ukraine.
- Kim suggested that South Korea sell the artillery to Poland instead, since "getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the ultimate goal of the United States."
- Yoon is set to visit the U.S. later this month to mark the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.
