Donald Trump's return to the White House and his intention to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine has forced South Korea's leadership to reconsider sending arms to Kyiv.

In deciding whether, in the case of Ukraine, to waive a long-standing ban on sending lethal weapons to armed conflict zones, President Yun Seok-yol's government now needs to consider the U.S. president-elect's position, a South Korean official told Bloomberg. Seoul is also studying how Trump's approach to the Ukraine conflict will affect a number of other countries' support for Ukraine, another government member said.

Yoon Seok-yeol said as recently as recently that the government was “ready to consider” sending munitions directly to Ukraine, and on Nov. 7 he “did not rule out” doing so. “Now, depending on the degree of involvement of the North Koreans [in the war against Ukraine on Russia's side], we will gradually adjust our support strategy step by step. This means that we do not rule out the possibility of providing weapons [to Kyiv],” the president said a week ago.

But now, until it becomes clear how Trump intends to act on the conflict, the likelihood of such a move has diminished, said Kim Jeong, a political science professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul:

It would be quite awkward if South Korea, which is not even a NATO member, intervenes and Trump, having moved into the White House, wants to withdraw from the conflict.

The government will study possible scenarios of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea and take countermeasures, the Yun administration said in response to Bloomberg's inquiry. “We will coordinate closely with our allies and partners in this process.”

Pyongyang has sent some 10,000 or more soldiers to Russia, according to South Korean, Ukrainian, and U.S. intelligence reports. They were disguised as Buryats and Yakuts in the Khabarovsk region, given Russian uniforms and false documents, and then transferred to the Kursk region. There, they are supposed to help the Russian army dislodge Ukrainian units that have occupied part of the region. The first clashes, albeit minor, involving North Korean soldiers have already taken place.