North Korea has delivered more than a thousand containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia, and it’s time for the alliance to carefully examine the threat that represents and act collectively to mitigate it, said US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith.
“We do have new information that [North Korea] recently delivered even more arms to Russia for use in their war against Ukraine, and our information does indicate that [North Korea] has provided Russia with more than a thousand containers of military equipment and munitions,” Smith said in an online briefing.
Smith reported that the US obtained imagery showing the movement of those containers from North Korea into Russia by ship, adding that there was “no doubt” about the North Korean equipment being used against Ukraine.
This echoes what White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday: “[We’ve] declassified satellite imagery and intelligence purporting to show that North Korea has, since the Ukraine conflict began, been supplying direct lethal materiel to the Kremlin.”
Smith added: “We’re certainly going to continue to monitor this situation for any additional arms shipments to Russia. And we’re also increasingly concerned, by the way, about Russia’s own assistance to [North Korea]. In return for its support, we do assess that Pyongyang is seeking advanced military technology from Russia, perhaps fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, or materials of that kind.”
The ambassador stated: “[The] expanding military partnership between [North Korea] and Russia really, fundamentally undermines regional stability, it undermines international stability, and certainly undermines the global nonproliferation regime.”
She called on NATO to carefully examine the growing threat to the security of the alliance and consider new efforts to collectively mitigate it.
British military intelligence reported in October that North Korea is on track to become one of the most significant foreign arms suppliers to Russia, along with Iran and Belarus.
In September, North Korean President Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare summit in Moscow in which they discussed military cooperation, the war in Ukraine, and potential Russian support for North Korea’s satellite program.
Kim also met with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and discussed military cooperation and exchanges between the two countries’ armies while they took a tour of Russian weapons systems and vessels.
