Ukraine Takes Aim at South Korea, Criticizing Policy Over Alleged Russian Supply

Ukraine has criticized South Korea's policy toward Russia, citing foreign media reports that South Korea supplied large quantities of petroleum products to Russia.

On the 6th (local time), Vladyslav Vlasiuk, sanctions advisor to the Ukrainian Presidential Office, shared an article on social media claiming that South Korea supplied diesel and other products to Russia, arguing that it stands in stark contrast to South Korea's sanctions policy.

Previously, the British newspaper The Guardian reported, based on port records and vessel tracking data, that seven tankers transported a total of over 176,000 tons of petroleum products from South Korean ports such as Ulsan and Yeosu to the Russian Far East across 14 trips in July and August.

The report added that the majority of the shipments were diesel, for which shortages in Russia grew acute following Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Regarding this, Advisor Vlasiuk claimed that the shipments from South Korea helped offset the loss of Russia's refining capacity caused by Ukrainian attacks on its refining facilities.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied the report.

The Foreign Ministry told The Guardian, "Under the Foreign Trade Act, we have expanded export controls to include not only strategic materials but also 1,402 non-strategic items that can be used for military purposes, and we are strictly enforcing them," adding, "As a responsible member of the international community, we support and actively participate in international efforts to end the war in Ukraine and bring about peaceful reconstruction."

South Korea and Ukraine have also recently clashed over the issue of repatriating North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

During a parliamentary audit by the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of the National Assembly yesterday, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated regarding the diplomatic friction surrounding the confidentiality of the repatriation of North Korean prisoners of war that he had received a message containing "words of apology" from Ukraine.

However, Minister Cho remarked, "There is still some gap compared to the level we expect, so we intend to take firm measures."

Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.