Ukraine wants S. Korea to help rebuild war-torn cities: envoy

Ukraine hopes South Korea and other developed countries will help rebuild cities destroyed by the Russian invasion, Kyiv’s top envoy to Seoul said Monday.

Speaking at a seminar on the Ukraine-Russia war, Ukrainian Ambassador to South Korea Dmytro Ponomarenko also said he delivered the idea on post-war reconstruction efforts to President Moon Jae-in and Rep. Chung Jin-suk, a close aide to President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, last week.

South Korea can select one region or city suffering from the invasion and renovate telecommunications, transportation, buildings or water supplies, Ponomarenko said during the seminar held at Seoul National University.

He cited Chernihiv, a city of about 300,000 in population northeast of Kyiv, as an example.

“We are very much thankful to the Korean government and its people for humanitarian support … but we expect the new government to be more proactive towards Ukraine,” he said, calling for more attention to the difficulties the war can bring to the international order, people’s daily lives and businesses.

“We are counting on South Korea and consider the country as one of our main partners in Asia,” he added.

According to the ambassador, much of about US$40 million worth of humanitarian aid that South Korea offered in recent months was sent to Ukraine and used to secure medical supplies and protective gear for people.

Last week, Yun Seong-deok, Seoul’s deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, spoke by phone with Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister and economy minister, and expressed hopes to take part in Ukraine’s post-war recovery and reconstruction efforts.