NATO Urges South Korea To Step Up Military Aid For Ukraine

Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO, has urged South Korea to “step up” military support for Ukraine.

The NATO chief, citing other governments that have changed their policies on exporting weapons to countries in conflict following the Russian invasion, made the appeal in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Monday.

He is on his Asia trip that will also include stops in Japan and is aimed at boosting ties with the region’s democratic allies in the face of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China.

Speaking at the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies in Seoul, he thanked South Korea for its nonlethal aid to Ukraine but urged it to do more, adding there was an “urgent need” for ammunition. Russia calls the invasion a “special operation”.

He added; “If we believe in freedom, democracy, if we don’t want autocracy and totalitarian to win then they need weapons.”

South Korea has recently signed deals to sell hundreds of tanks to European countries, including NATO-member Poland. But South Korean law bans the export of weapons to countries in active conflict.