US To Buy One Lakh South Korean Howitzer Rounds To Supply To Ukraine: Official

The US will buy 100,000 rounds of howitzer artillery from South Korean manufacturers for Ukraine, in a deal that the two governments have been working on for some time, a US official said Thursday.

The agreement comes as Ukrainian leaders press for more weapons and aid to capitalise on a counteroffensive that is driving Russian forces out of areas they had taken over earlier in the war. It also alleviates concerns within the US military, notably the Army and Marine Corps, that persistent transfers of the Pentagon's howitzer ammunition to Ukraine are depleting their stockpiles.

Other defence officials confirmed the contract's broad outlines and said it would help with stockpile pressures, particularly involving howitzer ammunition, which Ukrainian forces have been using at a high rate. 

According to a defence official briefing reporters last week, Ukraine was using up to 7,000 rounds of ammunition per day, while Russia was using up to 20,000 rounds per day.

The South Korean agreement sharply contrasts the United States' claims earlier this month that North Korea was secretly shipping artillery to Russia. However, Pyongyang denied the claim

Until now, South Korea's assistance to Ukraine had been limited to non-lethal equipment and supplies. Following Russia's attack on Mariupol in April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed South Korea to provide lethal weapons. 

The Defense Ministry in Seoul confirmed at the time that it had rejected Ukraine's request for anti-aircraft weapons, citing the South Korean government's policy of sending only non-lethal aid.

According to security experts, both North Korea and South Korea have massive stockpiles of ammunition due to decades of tensions along their heavily fortified and militarised shared border.

Army Lt Col Marty Meiners, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that the US government has been in talks to buy ammunition from South Korea's non-government defence industrial base. The ammunition would not come from military stocks in South Korea.

Meiners said that any potential sales will always take the South Korean military's readiness and requirements into account and will not detract from our defensive posture or readiness to respond to regional threats.

He further said that South Korea's defence industry regularly sells military equipment and weapons systems to allies and partners, including the United States.

South Korea has also recently signed several arms deals with European countries eager to shore up their defences in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including nearly USD 9 billion in multiple contracts with Poland to supply F-16 fighter jets, training aircraft, tanks and howitzers.