◀ Anchor ▶
It is reported that Korea has decided to provide hundreds of thousands of shells to the United States in a ‘rental’ manner rather than direct sales.
It seems to be a desperate measure to keep the principle that we will not directly provide lethal weapons to Ukraine while not rejecting the US request.
However, if the United States provides its own stockpile to Ukraine, it seems that it could eventually fall into controversy over whether South Korea provided bypass support.
Reporter Jang In-soo covered the story.
◀ Report ▶
It was belatedly known that the government had agreed to provide 500,000 155mm shells to the United States.
However, it is said that the method of provision is not for sale, but for rental, that is, for renting shells.
It seems that if the US government provides the shells borrowed to Ukraine without our consent, it will be returned at any time.
It is an analysis that the end user was limited to the United States and aimed at the effect of substantively supporting Ukraine while keeping the principle of not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine.
The United States, which provided 1 million rounds of 155mm shells to Ukraine last year, has been persistently requesting arms support as its stockpile of shells has decreased significantly.
Following the purchase of 100,000 rounds of 155mm shells from the South Korean government in November of last year, it is known that an additional 100,000 rounds were requested at the beginning of this year.
Moreover, recently leaked classified US documents suggested that Ukraine’s ammunition would be exhausted by the beginning of next month.
The government, which could not openly listen to or ignore the request of the United States, came up with a desperate plan through an unusual method of renting shells.
[박진/외교부 장관]
″There is nothing I can confirm at this time. The government has taken a stance towards Ukraine that no lethal weapons will be provided.”
The US government is expected to borrow 500,000 rounds to fill up its stockpile and then send the stock that the US military had to Ukraine.
In this case, it is expected that there will be opposition from related countries such as Russia as the Korean government is in fact indirectly providing weapons to Ukraine.
This is Jang-in-su from MBC News.
Video editing: Lee Ji-young
