Seoul starts secretly transferring hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Kyiv

After much resistance and a request from the US, South Korea has begun to transfer hundreds of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine. The shipment is being made through the United States.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Quote: "South Korea is proceeding with the transfer of hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds for Ukraine, a move that U.S. officials said would make Kyiv’s planned offensive against Russian forces effective and allow the White House to delay a fraught decision about whether to supply cluster munitions banned by many countries."

Details: According to a confidential agreement, South Korea is handing over the shells to the United States, which in turn arranged for them to be shipped to Ukraine. The White House declined to comment, as did a representative of the South Korean government in Seoul.

The Pentagon declined to say how the transfer of the shells is taking place or when it is expected to be completed, but admitted that it is in talks with Seoul to buy the ammunition from South Korea.

Seoul's position changed after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Washington last month. At that time, Washington and Seoul issued a joint declaration on security issues.

In November, Seoul promised to provide Ukraine with artillery, but then began to evade.

It is noted that the United States has been asking for assistance for months, as the Pentagon's own artillery stockpile is dwindling.

Since February 2022, the US has reportedly provided Ukraine with more than 2 million 155mm artillery rounds, and their stocks have begun to run out.

The Pentagon has raided its own stockpiles of shells in Germany, Israel, Kuwait, and South Korea to make up for the shortfall.

Leaked classified documents indicate that in March, South Korean officials were concerned that sending the shells would violate the country's policy of providing only non-lethal support to Ukraine at the time, but they also did not want to deny their ally.

It is also noted that Ukraine had asked for cluster munitions, and high-ranking Republican lawmakers pressured the administration to provide them. US military and defence officials were sympathetic to Ukraine's request.

But officials in the White House and Department of State resisted, citing international condemnation of cluster munitions.

Congressional legislation prohibits the United States from exporting cluster bombs with any rate above the nominal failure rate, but this provision can be overridden by the US president.

Background: 

• A few days ago, Yoon Suk Yeol stated that the Republic of Korea plans to provide Ukraine with demining equipment and ambulances, and will consider Kyiv's request for some non-lethal weapons.
• On 16 May, South Korea signed an agreement with Ukraine to provide a US$130 million financial aid package. This happened a day after First Lady Olena Zelenska asked for military aid for Ukraine in Seoul.

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