Park Beom-gye "Lethal Weapon Support, De Facto Involvement in Ukraine War"

President Yoon Suk-yeol recently stated in an interview with Reuters that South Korea could conditionally provide lethal weapons to Ukraine. In response, Park Beom-gye, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed concern, saying, "Providing lethal weapons essentially means intervening in the Ukraine-Russia war."

On the 20th, Park said on SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' "I see this as a very serious situation." Russia strongly opposed President Yoon's remarks that morning, stating, "Providing weapons to Ukraine will be considered an anti-Russian hostile act."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park said, "Unless troops are dispatched, parliamentary approval is not required. Some interpret it that way, but providing lethal weapons literally means effectively intervening in the Ukraine-Russia war, which gives considerable grounds to Russia's claims." He added, "I don't understand why the president would bring about such a major diplomatic upheaval and harm when South Korea's current situation is relatively stable."

There is also analysis that President Yoon's remarks were aimed at securing firm security cooperation from the United States during the Korea-US summit. Regarding this, Park said, "The security cooperation agenda includes dangerous remarks that harm our own security," adding, "While solid security guarantees are important, what is even more crucial is addressing issues like support for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and various regulations in the Semiconductor Act. Solving these problems is a greater national challenge."

He continued, "Ultimately, by bringing up this agenda, the Korea-US summit's focus seems to be mainly on security aspects, while the urgently needed economic issues cannot be placed on the table as agenda items. I point this out with concern," adding, "That is what the United States wants."