for how did it come to this g, like with this is an unprecedented story. with, with the great documentary series iraq destruction of the nation. this week on d. w. you're watching d. w news, asia coming up today, south koreans head to the coal soon. and what will be a consequential election with a war in europe and north korea, launching tests missiles. national security has become a campaign issue for the elections are run on domestic issues as well. in south korea, candidates have been debating the merits of tattoos. find out why. ah,

i melissa chan, thanks for joining us. russia's invasion of ukraine has imposed itself on south korea's presidential election, highlighting south korea's national security challenges. the 2 lean candidates and wednesdays elections and their supporters have weighed in on the issue some suggesting the ukraine situation offers a lesson conservative, young silk, joe coles for a hard line with pyongyang. while progressive lead, james young argues for redoubled efforts at peace with north korea. south korea's international affairs will be very different depending on who wins wednesday's vote . i put on my piece in ukraine, echoes through a rally of conservative christians in soul,

furthering to pray for a change in south korean leadership. just ahead of the presidential election. russia's invasion of ukraine has again raised awareness of south korea's security challenges. military veteran and activists, e, guam, silk, suggest the public could learn something from the war. little little care. we must have a strong national defense. if we are off our guard, we could always fall into ukraine's position and believe peaceful, come to the korean peninsula with fake peace displays like a declaration of the end of the korean war. so ukraine provides us with a huge lesson. we should protect our country ourselves, law will put on a load on the 2, incurable camila leading candidates, conservative units. so you'll of the people power party and progressive e. jame young of the governing democratic party offers starkly different programs, especially on foreign affairs and national security unit tact ease party for its soft line on north korea, particularly in light of pyongyang,

missile tests, time. oh, you're not already the 8 time this year that north korea tested new care capable missiles. the international community has strongly urged us to stop their threatening provocations water one for do you remember how this democratic party's government reacted? they acted dumb. no, not even using the word provocation. well you know. 6 how can this government protect our people's lives and safety? the race has reached a fever, pitch and candidates are trying everything to win over undecided voters. e j m young once income, equality, market transparency and more engagement with pyongyang. he says peace with north korea would alleviate the so called korea discount of an undervalued stock market. she johnson is us her old tumbler general with the chief political crisis of pointing guns at each other highlights the historical fact that we are not firmly

at peace and still in an armistice done today. that is one reason for the korea discount oxygen. yun, kodiak is got dirty when the crisis of, nor is reduced pieces secured on the korean peninsula stabilized. so the korea discounts decreases. hola is gone to your other mit up. russia's invasion of ukraine exposes south korea is almost total dependence on energy imports. souls main stock index decline more than 2 percent at the start of the week on worries oil prices could rise even higher with more sanctions on russia under consideration . a ripple effect could also dampen already reeling, hospitality and services sectors. you and o g as a teacher, campaigning for the democratic party. she wants small businesses hit by that pandemic to get a break. something her man, the political veteran, e, is championing, was on the self employed,

are desperate because of coven 19. the conservative party and their supporters insist the democrats are handling a pandemic poorly. but if lee becomes president, it will be different. but he's promised to fully compensate the self employed, which will get us through this crisis that he missed from you. that campaign rhetoric has been acrimonious with both sides, tainted by scandal, but there is keen interest in the vote across of korea with early voting numbers hitting record eyes taking a closer look at how a war on the other side of the planet impacts south korea, sol, is joining international sanctions by tightening export controls against russia. cars are south korea, single biggest export item to russia, totaling $2.00 billing us dollars in the year. 2020 cars are a key player in south korea's export driven economy. then there's oil, south cree imported nearly $10000000000.00 of petroleum products from russia in 2019. so has decided to release some strategic oil reserves to help stabilize the

international energy market. and ukraine is a leading provider of noble gases. these are used in lasers that printed circuits on semiconductor chips. south korea's single largest export item. we have john de larry of south korea's young psy university with us. i, john, i want to start with the biggest global story right now. we just shared some of south korea trade vulnerability stemming from russia as invasion of ukraine and how disruptions may impact the country's industries. how else is the war impacting? are going to impact south korea? well, you know, i think the south koreans probably do look at this 1st in terms of economic self interest. russia is not the most important country by any means for south korea, but it's a significant economic partner. and especially in terms of energy,

as you've pointed out. so there is a tendency when a conflict feels far away, like frankly, ukraine does feel far away from northeast asia. there is a tendency, at least to look 1st at, you know, kind of the bread and butter. how is this going to affect my bottom line, whether it's a south korean, you know, company or the government as well? that has to consider that. but i think what we're seeing so far in the, you know, close to 2 weeks into this war to this conflict is that, you know, south korea is really staying on board with the response of the european union of the united states and broadly, the international community in terms of making a determination, this is something that rushes invasion of ukraine really takes, you know, takes everything to another level. and that the normal calculus doesn't really apply here. and that south korea does want to join the international efforts to stop this war to end it as quickly as possible. and that includes sanctions that

includes measures that will effect in the near term south korea's economic interests. but it's something that essentially the entire world has to really do. now, south korea also understands a hostile neighbor to the north, and north korea has test to launched so many missiles since the start of the year. what's going on there? yeah, that's right. i mean, south korea is always in this precarious position of having to deal with a nuclear armed, smaller power. you know, ultimately south korea is the stronger of the 2 korea's but north korea has the, a symmetrical advantage of being a nuclear weapons state. and so obviously that is a constant vulnerability. that means that south korea does have to look 1st to the situation on the korean peninsula. and you know, north korea is, i think it's fair to say doing some of the usual saber rattling,

it's very hard for analysts to, to tell how much of this really has to do with ukraine at all. i mean, frankly, all the behavior that i've seen out of north korea, i think, would be consistent with what they could be doing. quite possibly at this point, quite apart from any sort of russian invasion of ukraine. so in a sense, we're seeing the normal situation on the korean peninsula, but normal is not good for south korea. you know, this is normal means the status quo is. there's no diplomacy right now in play. and north korea is making steady progress on it's nuclear weapons. capability on and on missiles to deliver them. now all of this is playing out in a fairly close election. and, you know, this is going to have an impact in the region and with the countries relationship with the united states. can you talk a little bit about that in terms of the 2 candidates we have here?

yes. this very broad consensus in south korea in terms of supporting the alliance with the united states. yeah, every poll says the same thing, which is that south koreans consider the u. s. r o k alliance as the bedrock of their security. and there's, you know, despite all of the chaos of the trump years, really this alliance relationship whether that storm. so there continues to be very strong support and both the liberal and conservative candidates are signaling the same kind of commitment to the united states going forward. so that in a way is the bedrock of the foreign policy. but once you go beyond that, things get complicated. when you look at the relationship with china, there's an ongoing debate about how to navigate that. there hasn't been a lot of debate about russia, but obviously now there has to be given the world situation. john de larry, thank you so much for joining us. to pleasure. melissa. thank you. now,

tattoos might not be the most urgent campaign issue, but they're being talked about in south korea's upcoming election. officially tattoo artists in south korea are criminals because the country only allows doctors to do them. but there are growing calls to legalize tattooing, including from the ruling parties, candidate with their fine line drawing, bowed use of color and detailed designs, korean to, to assert, attracting attention around the world, the body art equipment of k pop. but it's a risky profession in south korea. i know they also know hello i'm to to is toy kim doin, who draws on human skin. we decide to re is the only country they're considered tattooing by non doctors as illegally gave up repub injury. they've gotten into in south korea's socially conservative society tattoos are associated with gangs and criminals and go against the confusion belief that altering the human body means

disrespecting one's parents. attitudes are changing. bts pan member joan cook famously has several. and while body art is usually covered up on t, v celebrities take the social media to show off their tattoos. and brad pitt's inc also helps boost the profile of local artists. kim was fined 5000000, won around 3700 euros last year. after a video of him inking, a popular korean actress went viral 6 to 2 as have been jail since last april. around a quarter of south koreans have undergone tattooing, including semi permanent cosmetic eyebrow procedures to strong support for the practice to be legalized, especially among younger people. on the ruling parties, candidate for the march 9 presidential election, lee jame young had said he would back making the practice legal. oh wow. i really hope the candidates will keep this pledge. and yet the tattooing by non doctors will become legal because as the person getting the tattoo,

we don't get punished. but the people who do those tattoos for us get punished. i think that's quite uncomfortable. i went on back to my if the bill backing d criminalization doesn't pass, many of south korea's tattoo us are planning to leave and practice their art overseas. that set for tuesday, stick with us this week. as we look at how a conflict in europe impacts the asia region you tomorrow and goodbye super. i'm just kinda, i think that's hard and in the end is a me, you are not a lot of to you anymore. we will send you back. are you familiar with this reliance of the what's your story. ready of you wasn't, i wasn't women,

especially victims of violence labs and take part and send us your story. we are trying always to understand this new culture. so you are not the visitor, not the guests. you want to become a citizen. in phil migrants, your platform for reliable information ah, the u. s. and e u split over plans to ditch russian energy president fight. it announces the ban on russian oil pole and gas imports. but will consumers accept even higher energy prices? will go to new york for analysis. meanwhile, brussel without a more cautious strategy to wear the block of russian energy by 2030. but who will bear the cost of energy independence will get the view from the company, keeping gas flowing through ukraine's pipeline. i'm chelsea delaney and berlin.

welcome to the show you as president joe biden has announced a ban on importing russian oil and retaliation for the invasion of ukraine. biden's move comes as the united states is already struggling with rising fuel prices and inflation. us imports only a small percentage of its oil from russia, but the band will likely push oil prices even higher, but the price of brit crew to reaching a 14 year high this week. now for more, unless let's bring in, james sweeney, our financial correspondent and new york. james, how big of a blow is that to russia, to lose the us as a customer for its oil and gas? this is a big blow to russia by losing the u. s. as an energy comes customer, an injury consumer, the u. s. is the global leader, an oil consumption, and this administration, the binding ministration, agree to buy a ton of oil for russia, you know, mix it up a bit not get.