The US Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Julianne Smith stressed on December 14 that South Korea's recent arms exports to Poland have helped NATO address the alliance's capacity, which has been weakened by its aid policy to Ukraine.
US Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Julianne Smith speaks to reporters in Seoul, South Korea on December 14. (Yonhap) |
In 2022, Warsaw signed a series of agreements to purchase South Korean weapons systems, such as the K-2 main battle tank, K-9 self-propelled artillery, Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers and FA-50 light attack aircraft.
Ms. Smith assessed that the “budding” relationship between Seoul and Warsaw contributes to addressing the challenge posed by NATO's military aid policy for Ukraine.
According to the US official, this is a great help as the Korean industry can help solve some of the challenges by providing military capabilities. This is also a really important contribution, although not directly related to the situation in Ukraine, it has helped NATO solve some of the difficulties arising from supporting Ukraine.
NATO representatives arrived in Seoul on December 13 for a three-day visit with seven other NATO members, including officials from Britain, Italy and Poland. Earlier, the Washington Post reported that South Korea had indirectly supplied more 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine in 2023 than all European countries combined.
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