In a move that could help the US government supply Ukraine with ammunition, South Korea has agreed to lend the Pentagon 500,000 155mm artillery shells, Reuters reports, citing a South Korean newspaper.
As the Pentagon relentlessly pours weapons and ammunition into its Ukraine proxy war against Russia, the American arsenal has been rapidly depleted, to the point that the Biden administration is going around begging to buy or "borrow" ammo from other countries.
The United States has given Ukraine more than a million 155mm shells. The Korean deal will provide some relief to US stockpiles and thus the Ukrainian supply chain, but apparently came after significant hand-wringing in Seoul.
"We've opted to significantly increase the volume of shells but take the rental method, after exploring how to respond to the request of the blood ally in good faith while sticking to the government principle of not providing lethal weapons to Ukraine," an anonymous source told the South Korean paper DongA Ilbo.
The loaned shells will ostensibly be used to backfill the US stockpile. However, given ammunition is rather fungible, the net effect is that South Korea will aid the Ukrainian army, something prohibited by South Korean arms export policy.
The report of the deal comes amidst a furor in South Korea over the apparent revelation that the US government spied on Korean officials as they deliberated over the decision. That conclusion is driven by purported Department of Defense documents that are among many that have leaked over the past several weeks, causing headaches for the Biden administration.
While the The Wall Street Journal couldn't authenticate the documents, the paper said "they contain enough detail to give them credibility." If legitimate, they include detailed accounts of March 1 discussions among South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's most senior aides.
The officials were wary that selling ammunition to the United States would violate South Korea's policy against sending arms to countries at war. The New York Times reported that, according to the leaked documents, Korean officials also feared provoking Russia, as Seoul is looking to Moscow for help in moderating North Korean belligerence.
South Korea's president has previously declared his country won't provide weapons to Ukraine, but the documents suggest that, behind closed doors, Korean officials were conspiring to circumvent that public assurance.
The leaked materials say South Korea's then-national security advisor Kim Sung-han offered the idea of selling 330,000 shells to Poland "as getting the ammunition to Ukraine quickly was the ultimate goal of the U.S.” Under that sham-transaction concept, Poland would be agree to be designated the "end user" of the ammo, only to turn around and send it to Ukraine.
In a statement that should invite heavy skepticism, on Tuesday, a senior South Korean presidential office official claimed that senior US and South Korean defense officials agreed that many of the documents are forgeries. The same official also said it's not possible to spy on South Korea's presidential office, given its impenetrable security, reports the Journal.
Despite those Baghdad Bob-esque assurances, a South Korean probe is underway. “If it is true that they have spied on us, it is a very disappointing act that undermines the South Korea-U.S. alliance, which is based on mutual trust,” said Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.
In September, Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, told a media round-table that the Pentagon is striving to nearly triple US production of 155mm shells.
The DOD has shipped M777 155mm howitzers to Ukraine. Highly mobile and readily transported via helicopter, it's a novel weapon to the Ukrainians, so Americans have provided training at an "undisclosed area outside of Ukraine." Here's some Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty propaganda on the M777's role in the war: