According to Oct. 22 reports, South Korea may send arms to Ukraine as a response since North Korea has already sent troops to Russia in the second year of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It is a counter balance to the north.  According to ABCNews, “SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president on Thursday raised the possibility of supplying Ukraine with weapons while stressing that his government ‘won’t sit idle’ as North Korea allegedly sends troops to support Russia’s aggression toward its neighbor,”

North Korea sending troops to Russia worries South Korea since Russia could reward the North Korean government with arms that could create war in the Korean peninsula. 

South Korea wanted to coerce Russia against obtaining North Korean troops. According to ABCNews, “South Korea’s statement was apparently meant to pressure Russia against bringing in North Korean troops for its war against Ukraine. South Korean officials worry that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated weapons technologies that can boost the North’s nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea.” 

On October 28, North Korea sent 10,000 troops to Russia to fight Ukraine. AP reports, “North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and fight in Ukraine within “the next several weeks,” the Pentagon said Monday, in a move that Western leaders say will intensify the almost three-year war and jolt relations in the Indo-Pacific region.”

“President Yoon pledged support for additional South Korean weapons sales to Poland, including the sale of $7 billion worth of K2 tanks. So far, South Korea has helped Ukraine by providing arms to the United States and Ukraine’s neighbors, but he said that could change,” NPR reports.  When Russia had invaded Ukraine back in 2022, South Korea had joined the U.S. with sanctions against Moscow and had shipped humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to the Associated Press. 

In the same year, tensions between North and South Korea had gotten worse because North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un is using the Ukraine-Russia conflict as a distraction to show off the country’s nuclear weapons, AP reports. 

Assuming that South Korea sends their military crew to Ukraine, it will drive other countries to take similar action. According to CNBC, “If Seoul deploys military personnel to help Ukraine with intelligence, technical training, or even to help interrogate North Korean prisoners of war, it would motivate Ukraine’s other allies to dispatch their own trainers or military support specialists to aid Ukraine.”  South Korea`s decision to arm Ukraine is through President Yoon`s mantra, “peace through strength,” according to Voice of America.  So far, South Korea has only supplied weapons through the U.S. and Poland because those countries are supplying Ukraine. 

In summary, South Korea is considering sending arms to Ukraine as a response to North Korea sending troops to Russia. It has resulted in North and South Korea relations getting worse. South Korea also plans to deploy military personnel to Ukraine, which could also motivate other countries to do the same. This conflict is pulling in more world leaders.