North Korea has sent more than a million artillery shells to Russia since August, The Independent reports.
South Korean lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, citing an intelligence briefing, said North Korea has been sending artillery shells to Russia using ships and other vehicles since early August. He added the short-range weapons would last about two months.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), which conducted the briefing, also believes that Kim Jong-un’s regime is operating its munitions factories at full capacity. According to the South Korean lawmaker, North Korea is also mobilising its citizens to increase production. In addition, there are reports that North Korea sent weapons experts to Russia in October to advise Moscow officials on the use of weapons.
Signs of an expanded partnership came soon after Putin and Kim met in eastern Russia in September, which sparked speculation that North Korea and Russia would begin to establish military cooperation.
South Korea and the United States speculate that the two leaders have struck an arms deal to provide Russia with much-needed munitions in exchange for advanced Russian technology that could strengthen North Korea’s nuclear-armed military.
South Korean experts also noted that the highly publicised meeting between the two leaders at Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome, a major satellite launch site, indicates that Kim hopes to get Russian technological help for his spy satellite programme.
However, Moscow and Pyongyang have rejected the US and South Korean claims. Officials in South Korea fear that such a military agreement would give North Korea sensitive Russian technology, which would boost Mr Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.
The NIS believes it is more likely that Russian assistance will be limited to conventional weapons, perhaps to help North Korea upgrade its aging fleet of fighter jets, Mr Yoo said. After several failed launches, he said, North Korea might receive technological assistance from Russia to build a military reconnaissance satellite.
South Korean intelligence suggests North Korea is now in the final stages of preparing for a third spy satellite launch, which is likely to be successful, unlike the spy satellite launch in October.
In a joint statement, Japan, South Korea and the United States strongly condemned North Korea’s supply of ammunition and military equipment to Russia. This came days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, returning from a two-day trip to Pyongyang, rejected US allegations that his country had received munitions from North Korea.
