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South Korea’s presidential office rejected a Ukrainian official’s claim that the country supplied petroleum products to Russia, calling the allegation inaccurate and inappropriate.
Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Ukraine had publicly criticized South Korea based on individual transactions for which key details — including the parties involved, the products’ origin and their final buyers — had not been confirmed. The Ukrainian allegation cited a report published by Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
Kang urged Ukrainian officials to avoid public statements that could distort South Korean policy or damage the country’s international credibility without sufficient verification. She said Seoul has consistently coordinated with the international community to enforce sanctions and export controls against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
Government Reviewing Shipments
South Korean authorities are reviewing the transactions and whether any export-control or domestic legal violations occurred, Kang said. The government plans to take action if it identifies wrongdoing.
An official with South Korea’s National Security Office said refined fuels such as diesel and jet fuel are not among the 1,402 products covered by the country’s export controls against Russia. The official also said authorities had not confirmed that the fuel involved was produced in South Korea.
Trade statistics show no diesel, gasoline or jet fuel was exported from South Korea to Russia from August of last year through August of this year, according to the official. That means no shipments of those products, regardless of their country of origin, cleared South Korean customs with Russia listed as their destination.
The Guardian reported that seven tankers made 14 departures from South Korean ports, including Ulsan and Yeosu, in July and August and carried more than 176,000 metric tons of petroleum products to Russia’s Far East, including Vladivostok. The newspaper said the transactions did not violate South Korean law but reported that some ships initially listed third countries as their destinations before changing course for Russia.
South Korean authorities will determine whether any destinations were falsely declared and whether that would constitute a violation of domestic law, the National Security Office official said.
Ukraine Criticizes Fuel Trade
Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an adviser to the Ukrainian president on sanctions, wrote on Facebook that the reported trade sharply contradicted South Korea’s sanctions policy. He argued that imports from South Korea had helped Russia offset damage to its domestic refining capacity after Ukrainian attacks reduced production and contributed to fuel shortages.
Seoul said its exports to Russia fell from $10 billion in 2021 to $4 billion in 2025. Remaining exports are largely limited to ordinary manufactured and humanitarian goods, including passenger vehicles, cosmetics and medical devices, according to the presidential office.
The office said South Korea had maintained export controls despite the financial burden on its citizens and companies as part of international efforts to promote peace.
Separate Dispute Over North Korean Prisoners
The fuel dispute comes as Seoul and Kyiv are also publicly at odds over whether they agreed to keep the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers confidential. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an address to the United Nations General Assembly last month that the soldiers, who were captured after being deployed to the war, had been sent to South Korea.
South Korean President Lee said on X that disclosing the transfer violated a confidentiality agreement and warned of further measures unless Ukraine acknowledged the matter and issued a public apology. The two governments dispute whether such a nondisclosure agreement existed.
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