Last year, the South Korean government approved export licenses to supply Krab self-propelled guns produced from South Korean components to Ukraine.

Reuters reported this with reference to the defense acquisition official in Seoul.

This is the first confirmation that South Korea officially agreed to the transfer of weapons to Ukraine, although it did so indirectly.

Prior to that, Seoul officials declined to comment on the transfer of Krab howitzers to Ukraine.

Kim Hyoung-cheol, Director of the Europe-Asia division of the International Cooperation Bureau, said that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s (DAPA) technology control bureau has reviewed and approved the transfer of weapons.

“We reviewed all the documentation and possible issues inside DAPA… then we made the decision to give out export license to Poland,” he shared with Reuters in an interview at DAPA headquarters in Seoul.

Krab is the Polish self-propelled howitzer. It has a licensed turret from the British AS90 self-propelled howitzer. The length of its barrel is 52 calibers. The South Korean platform from the K9 Thunder self-propelled gun was chosen as the Krab’s chassis.

Poland transferred 18 Polish Krab ACSs to Ukraine in May 2022. In June, it was reported that Ukraine signed an agreement to purchase approximately 60 units of these howitzers.

However, Kim Hyoung-cheol stressed that the government’s position of not transferring weapons to Ukraine remains unchanged.

South Korea’s position

The media emphasizes that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has repeatedly stated that the country has not provided Ukraine with any weapons. His administration claims that it has no plans to change that policy.

In addition, South Korean law makes it difficult to sell weapons directly to countries that are at war. The United States and NATO continue pressing the government.

“We obviously think South Korea should be doing more, and we have been communicating that to the Yoon administration regularly,” a Western diplomatic source in Seoul told the reporters.

DAPA management has the power to decide what exactly to export, but in practice, the decision also depends on the will of the president. Yang Uk, a researcher and defense expert at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, mentioned this to the reporters.

“A government has to consider all positions, including the foreign ministry’s position, diplomacy, as well as economic considerations. If Korea supports Ukraine, Russia may retaliate by selling up-to-date aircraft to North Korea or transfer technology that North Korea really needs,” he said.

South Korea received a significant contract worth $5.8 billion to supply Poland with hundreds of weapons: Chunmoo MLRS, К9 self-propelled howitzers, K2 tanks, and FA-50 aircraft.

However, if Poland decides to transfer any of these weapons to Ukraine, it will need to obtain additional permits from South Korea. At the same time, Seoul has repeatedly emphasized that these sales are intended purely for Poland’s defense capabilities.

Artillery ammunition

A separate issue is an agreement to sell 155mm artillery ammunition to the United States. Washington stated that it wants to hand them over to Ukraine, while South Korea insists the end consumer be the United States.

A spokesman for South Korea’s defense ministry shared that talks on the deal were ongoing.

Earlier, we reported that the United States took some of its ammunition, which was stored in South Korea and Israel, in order to transfer it to Ukraine.