SEOUL– Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) met virtually with the Ukrainian ambassador-designate to Seoul on Wednesday, his party said.
Lee and Ambassador-designate Dmytro Ponomarenko met over Zoom and discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and South Korea’s response to the crisis, according to the DP.
Main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party is scheduled to have an in-person meeting with Ponomarenko at the party headquarters at 5:30 p.m.
The crisis in Ukraine has emerged as a key topic in South Korea’s presidential race.
Lee came under fire for saying during a TV debate last week that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took power as a novice politician and “provoked” Russia with a decision to join NATO.
Yoon’s campaign, meanwhile, shared a photo on Tuesday of a tangerine made to look like an angry face alongside a caption expressing solidarity with Ukraine, but took the post down later amid criticism it was making light of the war.
Ponomarenko has been an active presence on Twitter, sharing news of the latest developments regarding the Ukraine crisis.
Source: Yonhap News Agency