SEOUL – North Korea has shipped containers that could hold millions of artillery shells to Russia, a top South Korean official said, allowing President Vladimir Putin to maintain his assault on Ukraine as Kyiv’s stocks of ammunition dwindle.
South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters that North Korea is estimated to have sent about 6,700 containers to Russia, accelerating the pace of shipments since Mr Putin held a summit with Mr Kim Jong Un in September 2023, Yonhap News reported on Feb 27.
The containers could hold about three million rounds of 152mm shells, Mr Shin said.
Russia in return is providing North Korea with food, raw materials and parts used in weapons manufacturing, he added.
The food aid has helped Mr Kim stabilise prices for necessities, Mr Shin said, adding if the arms transfers grow, Russia is set to send more military technology to Mr Kim, which could increase Pyongyang’s ability to threaten the region.
As North Korea-Russia trade picks up with the invasion now in its third year, the flow of the United States military aid to Kyiv has been increasingly under threat.
On top of this, the European Union has sent only about 30 per cent of the total one million artillery shells it pledged to give Kyiv by March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week.
The Ukrainian leader said his country believes North Korea has transferred 1.5 million artillery shells to Russia and an unknown number of missiles, adding that Pyongyang is poised to continue providing weapons.
While North Korea and Russia deny any arms transfers, imagery from commercial satellites has shown about four cargo vessels shuttling between North Korea’s Najin port near the Russian border and the Russian port of Dunay, a former Soviet submarine port about 180km away.
The White House said it has tracked some of those shipments as they travelled by rail across Russia to be stored in depots in Russia near Ukraine.
Cold War partners Russia and North Korea have forged a new partnership since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion, built upon Pyongyang holding some of the world’s largest stocks of munitions that are interoperable with the weapons Moscow has deployed to the battlefield in Ukraine.
Pyongyang’s transfer of ballistic missiles, artillery shells and other military equipment to sustain Mr Putin’s aggression in Ukraine is providing a jolt to an economy long isolated by international sanctions.
This will allow Mr Kim to shun engagement with the US for years to come, while at the same time enhancing his ability to deploy spy satellites and develop his nuclear arms programme.
North Korea’s yearly economy is about US$25 billion (S$34 billion), according to estimates from South Korea’s central bank, and the country is in desperate need of food, oil, building materials and hard cash for international commerce.
The weapons Mr Kim is providing Russia are likely worth several billion dollars, and the support he is receiving from Mr Putin likely represents some of the biggest gains Mr Kim has seen since he took power about a dozen years ago.
Mr Putin has shown his appreciation, giving the North Korean leader a new Russian-made car.
The vehicle was an Aurus limousine, similar to the one Mr Putin showed Mr Kim when they met in September in Russia for a trip that deepened their military cooperation. BLOOMBERG
