North Korea has sent 6,700 containers of ammunition to Russia since September – South Korea
South Korea estimates that North Korea has supplied Russia with about 6,700 containers of ammunition since September 2023.
Source: South Korea's Defence Minister Shin Won-sik, as cited by the news agency Yonhap
Details: Shin Won-sik estimates that North Korea has shipped around 6,700 containers to Russia since a summit between their leaders in September. That is enough to hold approximately 3 million rounds of 152mm artillery shells or 500,000 rounds of 122mm artillery shells.
Moreover, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) said it was looking into suspicions concerning supplies of North Korean weapons made in the 1970s to Russia.
The NIS’s remark came in response to a recent report by a local media outlet that 122mm artillery shells manufactured in the North in the 1970s appeared to be among the weapons that Russia has used in its ongoing war against Kyiv.
"The NIS is analysing the relevant circumstance in detail and also continues to track overall military cooperation between North Korea and Russia," the South Korean intelligence service said.
Background:
- Russia has strengthened its cooperation with North Korea since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022. Pyongyang is known to have supplied Russia with artillery ammunition and ballistic missiles which have already been used to attack Ukrainian cities.
- At a UN Security Council meeting on 28 March, Russia vetoed a resolution to extend the mandate of the group of experts responsible for monitoring sanctions against North Korea.
- The US has stated that the nature of the security threat posed by North Korea may "change drastically" in the next decade as a result of its cooperation with Russia.
- The Pentagon said in early April that North Korea continues to supply the Russians with weapons for its war against Ukraine, and the partnership between the two countries is flourishing.
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