North Korea Emerges as Russia’s Key Supplier for Weapons

There are claims that North Korea is currently the largest weapons supplier to Russia. North Korea and Russia strongly deny the facts of the weapons trade, launching a counterattack alleging that the West’s support for Ukraine is prolonging the war.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on the 21st (local time), Kirillo Budanov, the head of military intelligence under the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, pointed out North Korea as Russia’s largest weapons supplier, stating, “They (North Korea) have delivered a substantial amount of artillery ammunition to Russia.”

The U.S. government recently revealed that North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1 million artillery shells, as well as dozens of ballistic missiles with several launchers.

The missile fragments collected from the Ukrainian battlefield indicated that North Korea is believed to have provided Russia with the KN-23, known as the “North Korean version of Iskander,” and the KN-24, known as the “North Korean version of Atayks.” Russia reportedly attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles provided by North Korea on the 30th of last month as well as the 2nd and 6th of this month.

Based on these circumstances, ambassadors from more than 40 countries, including South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, issued a joint statement on the 22nd (local time) strongly urging the cessation of weapons trade between North Korea and Russia.

Their statement stated, “We urge all states not to provide weapons and military equipment, including missiles and drones, to support Russia’s aggressive war.”

It also expressed concern that “if North Korea and Russia are violating the ‘UN arms embargo against North Korea’ adopted by a UN Security Council resolution, there is a possibility that Russia’s use of North Korean ballistic missiles could provide North Korea with crucial insights on weapon development.”

However, in the Security Council meeting held on the same day, Russia and North Korea took an attitude of tit-for-tat and repeatedly denied the existence of the weapons trade.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized, “Many experts with an unbiased view see that the main obstacle to the peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian situation is the continuous support for Ukraine from the West.”

Regarding this, the South Korean government urged Russia and North Korea to immediately stop the arms trade. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lim Soo-seok stated at a regular briefing on the 23rd, “Our government has been closely monitoring the situations of weapons trade and military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missile trade, in close coordination with the U.S. and other Western countries,” and raised his voice, saying, “All weapons trade between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles, is a clear violation of the Security Council resolution.”

He also stated, “We once again strongly urge them to immediately put an end to this action, which seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the world.”