Will Seoul start arming Kyiv after Yoon issues ultimatum to Moscow?

South Korean leader says Russia has to choose between the two Koreas

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has asked Russia to choose between the two Koreas, in a direct warning to Moscow following its signing of a mutual defence treaty with Pyongyang in June.

Mr Yoon issued the ultimatum ahead of his attendance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) summit in Washington this week. South Korea is participating as one of four Indo-Pacific Nato partners, along with Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

In a written Reuters interview published on July 8, Mr Yoon said North Korea is "clearly a menace to the international society", and added that the future of relations between South Korea and Russia "depends entirely on Russia's actions".

Since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, South Korea - one of the world's fastest-growing arms exporters has maintained its stance of not providing direct weaponry support to Ukraine, and has offered humanitarian assistance instead.

But after the Russia-North Korea pact was signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Pyongyang on June 19, Seoul warned Moscow that it would reconsider its policy of not supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons, a warning reiterated by Mr Yoon in his Reuters interview.

Analysts say that such a fundamental policy shift is the only leverage for South Korea to keep the Russia-North Korea alliance in check.

There is a need for Seoul to send a clear signal to Russia that there are consequences to deeper ties with North Korea, said Dr Troy Stangarone, senior director and fellow at the Korea Economic Institute of America, a think-tank based in Washington.