South Korea is falling behind its northern rival by refusing to supply weapons to Ukraine, according to a senior Ukrainian journalist, arguing that Seoul is squandering a rare chance to test its military hardware while North Korean forces gain real-world combat experience fighting alongside Russia.

“I’m still puzzled why South Korea is sitting this one out,” Oleksiy Sorokin, co-founder and deputy chief editor of the Kyiv Independent, told NK News.

The criticism reflects frustration in Kyiv over what some observers see as puzzling reluctance from a country that shares a rival with Ukraine. North Korea has emerged as one