(4th LD) Yoon meets Zelenskyy on surprise visit to Ukraine

▲ South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after arriving at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine, in Kyiv on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by South Korea's presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean first lady Kim Keon Hee (L) and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska meet at the Mariinskyi Palace, the official residence of the president of Ukraine, in Kyiv on July 15, 2023, in this photo provided by South Korea's presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

▲ 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)

(4th LD) Yoon-Ukraine visit

(4th LD) Yoon meets Zelenskyy on surprise visit to Ukraine

(ATTN: UPDATES with Yoon-Zelenskky meeting taking place, other details; CHANGES headline; ADDS photos)

By Lee Haye-ah

WARSAW, July 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday after making an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a strong show of support for the war-torn nation.

Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee arrived in Ukraine earlier in the day following a three-day official visit to Poland and toured the site of mass killings in Bucha, near Kyiv, before visiting Irpin, a civilian residential area that was destroyed in large-scale missile attacks, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.

Yoon and Zelenskyy later met at the presidential palace in Kyiv to discuss areas where South Korea can provide additional aid, though details were not immediately available.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a joint press conference following their summit.

Before the meeting, Yoon was also scheduled to lay a wreath at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine in Kyiv.

A presidential official told reporters Yoon's visit came at Zelenskyy's invitation, and followed internal deliberations over security and safety, and the need for a visit, before Yoon made the final decision.

"We are preparing comprehensive and concrete measures for assistance and cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea in keeping with the principles South Korea has maintained so far," the official said, adding the summit became necessary for detailed discussions on cooperation during the war and in the post-war reconstruction effort.

The official said South Korea understood the invitation as a reflection of Ukraine's expectations for South Korea in terms of its role in the protracted war against Russia.

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's assistance to Ukraine has included military supplies, such as first-aid kits, medicine, portable mine detectors and protective suits, but the country has denied any request for lethal weapons.

This was 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 is the first South Korean president to visit a battlefield where the country's troops have not been deployed, according to his office. Former President Park Chung-hee visited Vietnam during the Vietnam War, while former President Roh Moo-hyun made an unannounced stop in Iraq in 2014.

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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