South Korea’s proposal to send an observation team to Ukraine has sparked a heated debate, raising questions about the country’s legal and procedural limits for deploying military personnel abroad.

Defense minister Kim Yong-hyun argued on Monday that sending a small, unarmed team to monitor the Ukraine conflict is lawful under the Directive on Overseas Deployment Operations of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. However, opposition voices have challenged this view, maintaining these plans run counter to the language of the law and historical precedent.