South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was visiting Ukraine on Saturday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the South Korean presidential office said,
Reuters reports.
The surprise trip came after Yoon attended a NATO summit in Lithuania and visited Poland this week, where he expressed solidarity with Ukraine and explored ways to support its fight against Russia's invasion.
Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha near the capital Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a residential area that received large-scale missile attacks. He was expected to hold a summit with Zelenskiy afterward, his office said, Reuters reports.
A U.S. ally and rising arms exporter, South Korea has faced renewed pressure to provide weapons to Ukraine, which Yoon's administration has resisted in favour of humanitarian and financial aid, wary of Russia's influence over North Korea.
Yoon said this week his administration was preparing to send de-mining equipment and ambulances, following a request from Ukraine, and will join NATO's trust fund for Ukraine.
Although Yoon's visit was not entirely unexpected, it is "very significant" given that few other Asian leaders have visited Ukraine, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, the Korea chair at the Brussels School of Governance.
Whether Yoon's visit signals a shift in policy toward providing more support for Ukraine remains to be seen, but the trip suggests a stamp of approval from Kyiv for the aid that Seoul has sent so far, he said.
