SEOUL: According to South Korea’s military, it appears that North Korea has likely delivered various missile types to support Russia in its conflict in Ukraine, alongside the well-documented deliveries of ammunition and shells.
This assessment was made public on Thursday, following a briefing by South Korea’s intelligence service to lawmakers, indicating that North Korea has recently provided Russia with over a million artillery shells, reflecting a growing military partnership between these two significant adversaries of the United States.
During a background briefing for local journalists, South Korea’s military suggested that North Korea might have dispatched an undisclosed quantity of short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles, and portable anti-air missiles to Russia. Additionally, they mentioned the transfer of rifles, rocket launchers, mortars, and shells.
Last week, South Korea, the United States, and Japan jointly expressed strong condemnation of what they referred to as North Korea’s alleged provision of munitions and military equipment to Russia, asserting that such weapon transfers significantly exacerbate the human toll in Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. Trading in arms with North Korea would constitute a violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, which Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, had previously endorsed.
Both Russia and North Korea promptly rejected the accusations regarding the alleged weapons shipment, dismissing them as unfounded.
Speculation surrounding North Korean arms transfers intensified following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia in September, where he met with President Vladimir Putin and toured essential military installations. The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of seeking advanced Russian technologies to enhance its stockpile of nuclear weapons and missiles in exchange for conventional arms shipments.
During a confidential briefing for lawmakers on Wednesday, the National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s primary intelligence agency, disclosed that more than a million North Korean artillery shells had been transported to Russia since August through ships and transport planes. According to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, who attended the NIS briefing, these shells roughly equated to two months’ worth of supplies for the Russians.
