Seoul: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Saturday his country will provide a bigger batch of military supplies and humanitarian aid to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv for meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The very important visit, very important cooperation, very important joint protection of security. I am grateful to President of Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee for negotiations, interaction, and joint work between Ukraine and the Republic of Korea for saving people’s lives and humanity”, Volodymyr Zelenskyi tweeted.
The surprise trip came after Yoon attended a NATO alliance summit in Lithuania and visited Poland this week, where he expressed solidarity with Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. With this, Yoon said South Korea also plans to provide Ukraine with $150 million in humanitarian aid this year, following about $100 million in 2022. Besides, it would also cooperate with Kyiv in projects such as infrastructure construction, which can be backed by concessionary loans from South Korea.
Meanwhile, agreements that the United Nations and Turkey brokered with Ukraine and Russia to allow food and fertilizer to get from the warring nations to parts of the world where millions are going hungry have eased concerns over global food security. Moscow has ramped up its rhetoric, saying it may not extend the deal that expires. The Black Sea Grain Initiative has allowed 32.8 million metric tons of food to be exported from Ukraine since last August.