US concerned that North Korea is getting rare chance to test its weaponry in combat in Ukraine
Moscow's use of North Korean missiles in its attacks on Ukraine gives Pyongyang a unique chance to put its weapons to the test in combat and learn lessons that could improve their effectiveness.
Source: Bloomberg, citing US General Charles Flynn, Commander of the US Pacific Army, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Russian strikes on Ukraine provide North Korea with valuable information on technical issues, procedures and the munitions themselves.
"I don’t believe that in my recent memory that the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine," General Charles Flynn said during a visit to the large US Army garrison at Humphreys, roughly 80 kilometres south of Seoul.
The general stressed that the US will monitor the situation closely.
Flynn explained that a huge concern for him and others is that North Korea could learn something about its weapons that it would not have had access to in the absence of a war such as the one in Ukraine.
North Korea has been accused of providing Russia with advanced nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that are easily concealable, swiftly deployable, and challenging to intercept.
Images provided to Bloomberg by the US indicate that the missiles in question are Hwasong-11s, a broad class of short-range ballistic missiles that can strike targets reliably with high accuracy.
They have a range of 380 to 800 kilometres and extend the range of weapons that Russian leader Vladimir Putin can employ against Ukraine.
Background:
- Russia stepped up cooperation with North Korea after the former's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Pyongyang is known to have handed over artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Moscow, which have been used to strike Ukrainian cities.
- The United States has indicated that the nature of the security threat posed by North Korea could change "drastically" in the next decade as a result of its cooperation with Russia.
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