Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence proposed routing South Korean interceptor missiles to Ukraine through the United States, as the country faces Russia's ballistic missile assault.
In an interview with CNN on the 23rd local time, Pence said Ukraine would be in a seriously vulnerable position as winter approaches. He noted that South Korea possesses highly sophisticated interceptor missiles and that there had been several contacts this week between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and South Korea. Pointing to South Korea, Pence added that if President Lee Jae-myung provided interceptor missiles to the United States, it could give Washington an opportunity to deploy them to allies in the Middle East, Ukraine and Europe. Zelensky is also reported to have publicly requested support with the Cheongung-II, a South Korean surface-to-air missile regarded as having strong interception capability. So far, however, the South Korean government is understood not to be considering such support.
Ukraine had also hoped for interceptor missile support from Japan, but Japan likewise declined. In an interview with Kyodo News released the same day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said he wanted to ask Japan for just one thing — ballistic missile interceptors — referring to the provision of Patriot surface-to-air guided missiles. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a morning news conference that Tokyo was not considering the transfer of "weapons under the Self-Defense Forces Act" intended for killing or destruction at this point.
