NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenbergasked this Monday to South Korea send weapons to Ukraine during a visit to the Asian country, which has so far provided medical supplies and non-lethal military equipment to kyiv.
Stoltenberg made this appeal to the South Korean Executive during his two-day trip to Seoul, which is focused on seeking greater cooperation from the Atlantic alliance with its partners in Asia in the face of the challenges that Russia represents for NATO after its invasion of Ukraine, the rise China’s military and weapons developments Pyongyang.
“I urge the Republic of Korea (official name of South Korea) to continue and raise the level of the specific issue of military support”, said the NATO official during an intervention at the Chey study center in Seoul reported by the local media.
“Ultimately it is a decision that corresponds to you, but I would add that there are several NATO allies that maintained a policy of not exporting weapons in conflicts and have now changed it”, said Stoltenberg, referring to countries like Germany either Swedenwho have decided to allow the delivery of such equipment to kyiv.
South Korea and Japan -countries that participated in the last NATO summit in Madrid as observers- have sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and non-lethal military equipment, due to the limitations of their national legislation on arms exports, according to both governments. .
Stoltenberg stressed the day before the importance of “unity” among “countries that believe in freedom and democracy”, after meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin-in.
The NATO Secretary General also expressed concern about the “military support” which he said North Korea is providing to Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, in the form of “rockets and missiles”.
“I think that in a more unpredictable and uncertain world, it is even more important that countries that believe in freedom and democracy in a rules-based international order stick together,” Stoltenberg said.
The NATO official’s remarks came after a North Korean official on Sunday denied that his country had provided Russia with weapons and warned the United States of an “undesirable outcome” if it continued to spread such rumors.
North Korea also charged this Monday against Stoltenberg’s visit to the neighboring country and called it a “prelude to confrontation and war.”
Stoltenberg will leave Seoul this Monday for Japan, where he will stay for another two days and hold a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, among other events.
(With information from EFE)
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