South Korea pledges legal action over alleged fuel exports to Russia

Ukrainian reports of South Korean fuel exports to Russia come amid strained tensions between Seoul and Kyiv.

Pipelines and oil storage tanks at oil refining facilities at the Daesan petrochemical complex near Daesan port, in Seosan, South Korea, May 8, 2026. [File: Kim Soo-hyeon / Reuters] (Reuters)

South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the government will take legal action over illegal fuel shipments to Russia if allegations from an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are confirmed.

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it had not confirmed whether South Korean fuel, including diesel, had been exported to Russia.

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It added that exports of some products, such as diesel and jet fuel for commercial purposes, were not included in a South Korean exports control list to Russia.

On Wednesday, the South Korean presidential office dismissed a statement by Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an adviser to the Ukrainian president on sanctions policy, that 176,000 tonnes of fuel were shipped from South Korea to Russia via sanctioned tankers in July and August.

Ukraine’s top sanctions official said the alleged findings run counter to South Korea’s sanctions policy towards Russia.

“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, our government has consistently implemented sanctions and export controls against Russia in close cooperation with the international community,” South Korean presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said on Wednesday, according to the Yonhap news agency.

“We ask that Ukraine also refrain from distorting the relevant policies of the Republic of Korea without sufficient verification of the facts and making public remarks that can damage international trust,” she added.

Relations between South Korea and Ukraine have been strained for the past couple of weeks after Seoul accused Zelenskyy of having “unilaterally disclosed” to the United Nations General Assembly that Kyiv had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea.

Seoul Korea demanded an official apology from Kyiv, claiming the Ukrainian president had breached a non-disclosure agreement. Kyiv said no such agreement was in place.

Pyongyang and Moscow, meanwhile, have deep ties, with the two countries having signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024. According to Ukrainian and South Korean estimates, about 14,000 to 15,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine.

North Korea and South Korea remain technically at war because the 1950–1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

乌克兰方面报道称，韩国向俄罗斯出口燃料，而此时首尔和基辅之间的关系正处于紧张状态。

2026年5月8日，韩国瑞山市大山港附近的大山石化联合企业炼油厂的管道和储油罐。[图片：金秀贤/路透社]（路透社）

韩国外交部表示，如果乌克兰总统泽连斯基的一名顾问提出的指控得到证实，韩国政府将对向俄罗斯非法运输燃料的行为采取法律行动。

韩国外交部周四表示，尚未确认韩国是否向俄罗斯出口了包括柴油在内的燃料。

韩国要求乌克兰就泄露朝鲜战俘转移事件道歉（共3条，第1条）

韩国要求乌克兰就朝鲜战俘事件道歉的原因（共3条，此为第2条）

乌克兰、韩国之间关于朝鲜战俘的争论（共3条）

声明还补充说，一些产品的出口，例如用于商业用途的柴油和航空燃油，并未列入韩国对俄罗斯的出口管制清单。

周三，韩国总统府驳斥了乌克兰总统制裁政策顾问弗拉迪斯拉夫·弗拉修克的声明。弗拉修克称，7 月和 8 月有 17.6 万吨燃料通过受制裁的油轮从韩国运往俄罗斯。

乌克兰最高制裁官员表示，这些所谓的调查结果与韩国对俄罗斯的制裁政策相悖。

据韩联社报道，韩国总统发言人康裕贞周三表示：“自俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，我国政府一直与国际社会密切合作，对俄罗斯实施制裁和出口管制。”

她补充说：“我们也要求乌克兰不要在未充分核实事实的情况下歪曲大韩民国的相关政策，也不要发表可能损害国际信任的公开言论。”

过去几周，韩国和乌克兰的关系一直很紧张，此前首尔指责泽连斯基“单方面向联合国大会披露”基辅已将两名朝鲜战俘移交给韩国。

韩国首尔方面要求基辅方面正式道歉，声称乌克兰总统违反了保密协议。基辅方面则表示不存在此类协议。

与此同时，平壤和莫斯科关系密切，两国于2024年签署了共同防御条约。据乌克兰和韩国估计，约有14000至15000名朝鲜士兵被派往俄罗斯支援其对乌克兰的战争行动。

从技术上讲，朝鲜和韩国仍然处于战争状态，因为 1950-1953 年的朝鲜战争以停战协定而不是和平条约结束。