Sino-NK

At first glance, a story about the South Korean government providing excavators to Ukraine for humanitarian reasons may not seem to be much of a newsmaker, hence the lack of coverage in English. Yet some minor details at the end of this article, which originally in the Russian-language version of RBC-Ukraine bring to light some questions worth considering. 

First, why compare South Korea’s contribution to Ukraine’s energy sector to that of Germany? Indeed, given the weaponization of energy in Eastern European geopolitics, could Seoul’s contribution be considered an outsized contribution to Kyiv’s war effort even as the ROK continues to refuse providing lethal combat aid?

Korea provides Ukraine with excavators to help restore energy infrastructure^[1]

The Republic of Korea handed over excavators to aid the recovery of Ukraine’s energy sector after terrorist attacks from Russian forces, as RBC-Ukraine reported in connection to a Facebook post from the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy’s press office.

According to press office data, four excavators were included in a humanitarian aid cargo from the Republic of Korea provided to Ukraine. This equipment will speed up the completion of restoration projects on energy infrastructure.

Over the past three months, Ukraine has received 10 humanitarian aid cargos with the help of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs totaling 114.3 tons.

According to the Energy Ministry, Ukraine’s Korean partners provided generators and excavators for the revival of the country’s energy industry.

Alongside this, Germany has provided 43 humanitarian aid cargos to assist with the needs of Ukraine’s energy sector since July, totaling around 334 tons of equipment.

[1] Source: “Korea provides Ukraine with excavators to help restore energy infrastructure [Корея передала экскаваторы для восстановления энергетической инфраструктуры Украины]”, RBC Ukraine, March 4, 2023, https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/koreya-peredala-ekskavatori-vidnovlennya-1677925724.html