Last month, South Korea reached an agreement to provide the United States with 500,000 rounds of ammunition for 155mm artillery guns, which could give Washington greater flexibility in supplying Ukraine with ammunition.
Source. This was reported by the South Korean newspaper DongA Ilbo, cited by the BBC.
According to unnamed sources in the government, the shells will be used by the United States primarily to replenish its own stockpiles.
Having purchased 100,000 of these last year, the US government wanted to buy the same amount or more in February, but the South Korean government was looking for another way to supply the ammunition. As a result, they decided to lend them.
"We decided to significantly increase the amount of shells, but we chose the method of lending them after studying how to respond to an ally's request in good faith, while adhering to the government's principle of not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine," a senior source told DongA Ilbo.
Both Seoul and Washington have confirmed that they are negotiating an artillery deal, but there has been no official word on whether a deal has been reached.
Foreign Minister Park Jin told reporters that he could not confirm the newspaper's report, but added that the government's position against providing lethal aid to Ukraine remains unchanged.
Background. As reported, after the leak of classified US military documents, it became known that South Korea adheres to a policy of non-interference in the conflict, but Western allies are pressuring it to provide military assistance to Ukraine.