South Korea intends to send additional non-lethal military aid worth 2 billion won ($1.6 million) to Ukraine in April amid Russia’s special military operation therein, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, citing an informed source.
According to the news agency, the new aid package will include bulletproof vests, helmets, medicines and dry rations. The deliveries will reportedly start next week, with the items expected to be sent to Europe by civil flights.
“For starters, the consideration of sending additional military goods aid has been completed. Negotiations are underway between the countries. We will soon be able to send them [military goods],” a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said at a briefing.
In March, Seoul provided Kiev with $10 million-worth assistance, including helmets, tents, blankets, medicines, and 40 tonnes of medical humanitarian aid. The South Korean government plans to allocate another $30 million in the future to help Ukraine.
Ukraine continues to ask South Korea for weapons. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his request to send military equipment to the country during his virtual appeal to South Korean lawmakers. In turn, Seoul has repeatedly said that it will not supply Kiev with lethal weapons.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and “denazify” Ukraine and that only military infrastructure is being targeted. (ANI/Sputnik)
