North Korean military factories are working at total capacity to supply weapons to Russia in exchange for food and other necessities.
North Korea is actively producing weapons for Russia
North Korea has sent about 6,700 containers to Russia since the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin in September 2023, South Korean MOD chief Shin Won-sik said.
This accommodates approximately 3 million 152-mm artillery shells and 500,000 122-mm artillery shells.
In exchange for supplying weapons to Russia, Shin said, North Korea appears to be receiving food and other necessities, as well as raw materials and parts used in weapons production.
The MOD chief said Moscow had also likely provided Pyongyang with satellite technology, as the country launched its first spy satellite in November and promised to launch three more this year.
Although the spy satellite is in Earth orbit, Shin expressed scepticism about North Korea's claim that the satellite is capable of photographing primary South Korean and US military targets.
It does not show any signs of functioning and simply orbits without activity, said the South Korean MOD chief.
He also suggested that the scale of Russian military and technical assistance would expand in the future if Russia's dependence on North Korean ammunition and weapons grows.
What is known about North Korea's shell supply to Russia?
According to the US Department of State, since September 2023, North Korea has delivered more than 10,000 containers of ammunition or materials related to ammunition to Russia.
The Defence Intelligece of Ukraine (DIU) reprerasantative, Vadym Skybitskyi, said that North Korea handed over 1.5 million artillery ammunition to the Russian Federation.
At the beginning of January, information appeared that the occupiers had struck Kharkiv with North Korean missiles KN-23/24. Later, the prosecutor's office confirmed this and gave details.
The DIU speaker Vadym Skybitskyi says North Korea actively supplies ammunition to the Russian Federation throughout the fall. According to intelligence estimates, the Russian army could receive about a million shells from Pyeongchang.
