KB News Desk
Rep. Yu Yong-weon, a lawmaker with the conservative People Power Party, said South Korea should consider sending the air defense system Cheongung-II to war-stricken Ukraine.
Yu said in a press conference at the National Assembly Tuesday that the dispatch of the South Korean-made interceptor system made to counter aircraft, drones and missiles would not breach South Korea’s principle of not sending lethal weapons to the country at war with Russia for years.
Yu’s proposal came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week asked South Korea for support in the form of an air defense system to counter the growing presence of North Korean armed forces fighting alongside Russia.
“The air defense system that Ukraine asked for is not a weapon for attacking an enemy, but defense equipment to protect its people and infrastructure from attacks by missiles and drones,” Yu said.
He added that given the civilian casualties in Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict, sending the surface-to-air missile defense system to Ukraine would be in accordance with humanitarian principles.
Zelenskyy had also suggested that Kyiv could assist Seoul with drone technology in return.
Yu said that deploying the Cheongung-II to Ukraine would not only help the country protect itself from air attacks, but could also “allow South Korea to combat the growing threat of short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea” via information gathered from the deployment.
“I hereby ask South Korea to consider sending an air defense system to Ukraine in pursuit of national security and national benefit,” Yu said.
“Peace will not be guaranteed if we turn a blind eye to the suffering of our allies.”
Yu is a member of the National Defense Committee at the National Assembly.
