Nataliya Butyrska, Associate Senior Fellow at the New Europe Center, explains in an article for Mirror of the Week why South Korea is refusing to provide military assistance to Ukraine, even as the deepening military alliance between Russia and North Korea poses a direct threat to security on the Korean Peninsula.

The author notes that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s appeal to Seoul to provide air defence systems and expand defence cooperation was not unexpectedly met with support, and explains the systemic reasons behind South Korea’s position.

In the article, Nataliya Butyrska examines:

• why legal restrictions on arms exports are merely a formal argument;
• how changes in the Trump administration’s approach to supporting Ukraine affect Seoul’s strategic calculations;
• why Russia’s threat to transfer nuclear technologies to North Korea continues to work, despite Moscow’s already deepening military-technical cooperation with Pyongyang;
• what positive developments in Ukraine–South Korea relations nevertheless emerged on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Ankara;
• why Kyiv will need a more pragmatic approach — including quiet diplomacy in sensitive areas — to further strengthen ties with Seoul.

Read more here.