Train traffic between the North Korean and Russia border has been crowded dramatically after the latest summit between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, indicating a “likely” transfer of arms, according to a new report by Beyond Parallel, Washington-based analysts.
The group said on Friday that high-resolution satellite imagery shows at least 70 freight cars at the North Korean border Tumangang Rail Facility, a number defined as “unprecedented” even when compared to pre-COVID levels.
No more than 20 cars had been detected in the railyard over the last five years, the report said.
The spurt of movement “probably indicates North Korea’s supply of arms and munitions to Russia”, the report concludes, adding that tarps wrapping the shipping containers made it impossible to “conclusively identify” their contents.
The analysis comes a day after CBS News quoted an anonymous US official as saying North Korea had started transferring artillery to Russia for use in its battle in Ukraine.
The previous month’s face-to-face summit between Putin and Kim flared widespread concern among Ukrainian supporters over the prospect of a possible arms deal.
North Korea, which Washington has formerly blamed for providing ammunition to Russia’s Wagner Group, is a mass producer of conventional weaponry and is known to be sitting on large stocks of Soviet-era combat material — albeit in unknown condition.
Russia has boosted production of shells this year to a forecast of 2.5 million, but reviewers have indicated that could plunge short of its needs on the battlefield. Russian forces are firing about 60,000 rounds per day, according to Ukrainian figures.
While Moscow said no agreements were signed during the visit of Kim, Putin said he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation.
Moscow and Pyongyang, historic partners, are both under a raft of international sanctions –Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and North Korea for its testing of nuclear weapons.
