US ally tightens export restrictions against Russia
South Korea has added nearly 700 items to a list of products banned because of the Ukraine crisis Hyundai excavators sit idle at a South Korean shipyard. © Getty Images / Chung Sung-jun South Korea has stepped up its role in the US-led campaign to punish Russia over the Ukraine conflict by expanding its export restrictions against Moscow and Belarus. Newly banned exports will include excavators, rechargeable batteries, aircraft components, certain machine tools and passenger cars with engine displacements exceeding 2,000 cubic centimeters. Such products aren’t classified as under South Korean trade regulations, but they’re being added to the restrictions against Russia and Belarus because of their potential use for military purposes. MOTIE initially banned 57 items for export to Russia and Belarus after the Ukraine conflict began in February 2022, then expanded the list last April by adding some industrial and construction equipment, as well as steel and chemical products. South Korea is a close US ally but has stopped short of sending weapons directly to Ukraine, instead limiting its support to humanitarian and non-lethal aid. Seoul reportedly reached a confidential arrangement earlier this year to export artillery shells to the US for transfer by Washington to Ukraine. Russia designated South Korea as an state in March 2022, after Seoul joined in the US-led sanctions against Moscow. Russia has strengthened ties with Pyongyang this year, forging what North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui called READ MORE: Korean electronics giant loses dominant position in Russia