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| Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at the government complex in Seoul during a meeting of a government committee tasked with supporting the country's preparations for the 25th World Scout Jamboree, March 3. Yonhap |
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that South Korea has not yet decided whether to send lethal weapons to Ukraine, despite calls from Ukraine for heavy arms to support its fight against Russia.
In an interview with CNN's "Quest Means Business," Han said that South Korea has decided to increase its financial supports for Ukraine this year while seeking to support Kyiv with electricity generation facilities.
Asked whether he will consider sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, Han replied, "Not now. I think."
"But we are quite supportive of Ukraine, and this year we decided that we will increase our support in the amount of $130 million, and we are trying to support them in terms of electricity generation capabilities and so on," Han said.
"Whether we will go into some lethal weapons support, we are not yet decided on that issue," he said.
North Korea test-fired a record number of missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, last year, prompting South Korea and the United States to step up joint military drills.
Since the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol came into power last year, Han said South Korea has "put a lot of emphasis on building our deterrence capabilities in the right way, but we are not closing the dialogue."
"As long as North Korea is abstaining from their very you know strong and ambitious nuclear ambitions, that's OK for the United States and for (South) Korea to open our dialogue, but up to now, it's quite a pity that North Korea has not responded in a quite, you know, desirable way," Han said.
He also made it clear that South Korea will not consider acquiring its own nuclear weapons in the face of the North's growing nuclear threats.
Asked whether South Korea would want its own nuclear capability or would want the United States to redeploy its nuclear capabilities here, Han replied: "I don't think it's the right way for us to do it. We should work together with the international community, including our close ally United States.
"We will put a lot of continuous pressure on North Korea to denuclearize, and we'd like to let North Korea know that developing and advancing nuclear capabilities will not guarantee the peace and prosperity in their country and also on the Korean Peninsula and globally." (Yonhap)
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