The delegation from Ukraine did not request that South Korea provide defensive weapons during a series of high-level meetings held Wednesday in Seoul.

Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun, who spoke with his visiting Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov for 30 minutes on Wednesday, said he “did not receive any proposals” from the delegation about buying the Cheongung air defense system, as some reports had speculated.

The South Korean defense minister was speaking Thursday in response to questions from lawmakers during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s national defense committee.

Continuing, Kim said South Korea was “responding in solidarity with the international community” on aid to Ukraine. “I’m not supposed to give more details,” he added.

According to the South Korean defense minister, the Ukrainian delegation reported that Russia has deployed North Korean weapons such as Hwasong short-range ballistic missiles and 240 mm multiple rocket launchers in the war.

The Ukrainian delegation believes Russia has provided North Korea with antiaircraft missiles in return, Kim said.

The delegation led by the Ukrainian defense minister, believed to have arrived here Wednesday, met with President Yoon Suk Yeol, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and Defense Minister Kim.

Umerov said in a statement shared through the official Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Thursday that he and Yoon spoke about the two countries’ security cooperation in light of North Korean troops now being on the ground to fight Ukraine alongside Russia.

The Ukrainian defense minister said he shared with the South Korean side that North Korea sent some 12,000 troops as well as military equipment to support Russian attacks against Ukraine, including strikes on critical infrastructure such as energy systems.

“For the Republic of Korea, these actions pose a serious threat, as the North Korean troops are gaining experience in conducting combat operations, which in the future may create additional security challenges in the region,” he said. Republic of Korea is South Korea’s official name.

In the Telegram statement, Umerov made no mention of any discussions regarding weapons supplies having taken place at the meetings in Seoul, and neither did Yoon’s office in its statement released late Wednesday.

Also at Thursday’s Assembly meeting, the South Korean defense minister dismissed Russia’s warnings against his country possibly sending weapons to Ukraine.

“The war Russia is waging right now is an illegal invasion. The United Nations has already characterized it as such,” Kim said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in a Nov. 24 interview with Moscow’s state news agency TASS that “Seoul must realize that the possible use of South Korean weapons to kill Russian citizens will fully destroy relations between our countries.”

“We will respond in every way that we find necessary,” Rudenko said.

Officially, South Korea has so far focused on giving humanitarian or economic aid to Ukraine. After Russia began to deploy North Korean troops this year, however, Yoon said he would leave the door open for possibly providing weapons.

“Depending on the degree of involvement of the North Korean military, we will not rule out providing weapons,” the South Korean president said in a Nov. 7 press conference. Defensive, rather than offensive, weapons would be considered first, he added.

Any support beyond humanitarian is expected to be met by heavy domestic protest.

On Thursday, 70 lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea introduced a resolution urging the Yoon administration to “end involvement” in the war in Ukraine.

“If South Korea provides weapons to Ukraine while North Korea is dispatching troops to Russia, (the war in Ukraine) could turn into a proxy war between North and South Korea,” Rep. Lee Un-ju, one of the lawmakers who authored the resolution, told reporters.

The Democratic Party earlier threatened to impeach Yoon’s defense minister if weapons were provided to Ukraine.

Reelection of former US President Donald Trump, who has proposed to end the war in Ukraine, makes it harder for the South Korean government to broaden Ukraine assistance, some ruling People Power Party lawmakers worry.

Rep. Kang Dae-sik, deputy chair of the Assembly defense committee, told The Korea Herald that the unpredictability of the incoming US president put the Yoon administration “in a tricky position to make a decision at this moment.”

“First of all there is strong opposition from the Democratic Party (of Korea), which has the Assembly majority, on this front. How the incoming US president would shape his Ukraine war policy also remains vague,” he said.

The ruling party lawmaker said he did not think the Ukraine delegation would be returning with “something substantial.”