As early as October 2024, amid reports that North Korean troops had been deployed to support russians in the Kursk operation, attention turned to South Korea's stockpile of 3.4 million 105 mm artillery shells—urgently needed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces—as well as its inventory of 105 mm artillery systems.
South Korea has not officially provided Ukraine with any military aid and refuses to sell weapons under commercial contracts. At the same time, unofficial reports have emerged suggesting that South Korea may have supplied some weapons to Ukraine through an "alternative channel."
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According to the Czech Republic's 2025 annual report, the country imported 100 105 mm howitzers from South Korea. The Czech Army does not operate 105 mm artillery systems, suggesting that the Czech Republic may eventually transfer these howitzers to the Ukrainian Armed Forces after any necessary repairs and/or modernization.
It remains unclear exactly which artillery systems South Korea supplied to the Czech Republic. The South Korean Army currently operates around 1,500 M101 howitzers, as well as approximately 50 K105 HT truck-mounted self-propelled howitzers.
The main drawback of the M101 is its limited range of just 11.3 km, which is extremely short given the modern kill zone factor. The estimated number of M101s that the Ukrainian Armed Forces may have already received from various sources has reached 230 units.
Against this backdrop, the first question is whether it makes sense to supply these particular artillery systems to Ukraine, even if, at first glance, South Korea appears to be gradually shifting its position on arms deliveries to Ukraine.
If those 100 howitzers were indeed intended for the Ukrainian Armed Forces via the Czech Republic, it would mean that South Korea transferred only about 6% of its total inventory of artillery systems of that caliber to Ukraine.
However, beyond the howitzers themselves, another key question is ammunition—namely, whether South Korea supplied a sufficient quantity of 105 mm shells for the howitzers delivered to the Czech Republic for possible onward transfer to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ultimately, the key question is whether this shipment from South Korea to the Czech Republic was a one-off, or the beginning of a broader pattern of transit deliveries of heavy equipment and weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces via the Czech Republic.
Ivan Kyrychevskyi, serviceman of the 413th Raid Regiment of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine and weapons expert at Defense Express.
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