(2nd LD) Yoon makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (C) and first lady Kim Keon Hee visit a residential area destroyed in the war in Irpin, Ukraine, on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and first lady Kim Keon Hee bow their heads in tribute at the grave of a victim of mass killings in Bucha, Ukraine, on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Yoon-Ukraine visit

(2nd LD) Yoon makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support

(ATTN: UPDATES with details, background; ADDS photos)

By Lee Haye-ah

WARSAW, July 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Saturday, his office said, sending a strong signal of support for the war-torn nation.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine following a three-day official visit to Poland, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.

He will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later in the day and likely discuss areas where South Korea can provide additional aid.

Earlier Saturday, Yoon visited the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that has been subject to large-scale missile attacks, the press secretary said.

He was also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.

Further details have yet to be disclosed.

Yoon has shown strong support for Ukraine in line with his campaign for freedom, human rights and the rule of law in solidarity with like-minded nations.

South Korea has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its protracted war with Russia but denied the country's requests for lethal weapons.

This will be the second Yoon-Zelenskyy meeting after one held on the sidelines of a Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.

At the time, Yoon promised additional non-lethal aid, including demining equipment and ambulances.

Controversy arose earlier this year after Yoon told Reuters in April that it might be difficult to insist only on humanitarian or financial support in the event of large-scale attacks on civilians, massacres or serious violations of the laws of war.

The same month, news reports on a set of leaked Pentagon documents alleged the presidential office grappled with a U.S. request for ammunition for Ukraine in March.

Yoon's visit to Ukraine came at the end of a two-leg trip that earlier took him to Lithuania for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit and then to Poland for an official visit.

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