South Korea supplies artillery rounds to Ukraine through the United States

25 May, 2023 Artillery shells of the Ukrainian military. Photo credits: images.wsj.net South Korea transfers hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds to the United States, which are then delivered to Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal reported on this. The help from Seoul allegedly allowed Washington to delay a fraught decision about whether to supply cluster munitions banned by many countries. The White House and the South Korean government have not commented on the confidential arrangement.

Under the arrangement, South Korea is transferring the shells to the U.S., which in turn has arranged for them to be sent to Ukraine. At the same time, Washington noted that they discussed the purchase of ammunition from South Korea.

Self-propelled artillery of the Korean military. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea

Back in November 2022, Seoul promised to transfer artillery rounds to Kyiv, but later changed its mind and transferred only non-lethal aid.

South Korea's current decision has allegedly allowed the U.S. to delay a decision about whether to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine. In addition, U.S. law restricts the supply of cluster munitions, but this provision can be overridden by the President. It took the United States several months to reach an agreement with South Korea.

The breakthrough on South Korea's ammunition supply comes soon after Washington and Seoul issued a joint declaration on security issues in April.

A transport pallet with 155mm artillery ammunition. Photo from open sources

In April, it was reported that South Korea would lease 500,000 155-mm artillery ammunition to the United States. The South Korean government believes that if the munitions are leased, ownership of them belongs to Seoul.

They are also to be returned later.

In addition, the lease is a certain guarantee that the U.S. will not transfer shells to Ukraine without the consent of the South Korean government.