Seoul says North Korea has sent additional weapons to Russia

2024-11-20 08:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

North Korea has recently supplied Russia with additional artillery systems to support its war against Ukraine, as some of the thousands of North Korean troops relocated to Russia have already begun to engage in combat, the U.S. intelligence agency said Wednesday. South Korea.

Seoul's assessment comes after Russia warned on Monday that US President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to launch strikes deep inside Russia with US long-range weapons was "adding fuel to the fire" in the war.

US officials have said that Biden's decision was prompted almost entirely by North Korea's involvement in the war.

In a closed-door session of Parliament, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said North Korea has sent 170mm self-propelled artillery and 240mm multiple-barreled rocket systems to Russia, according to lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun. , who participated in the session.

Lee told reporters that the NIS assessed that these weapons are a type of artillery that the Russian military does not commonly use, so North Korea is likely to have sent personnel to teach the Russians how to use and care for them. for their maintenance.

Last week, Russian Telegram channels and other social media posts published photos that appeared to show North Korea's Koksan 170mm self-propelled artillery being transported to Russia via rail.

The Financial Times, citing Ukrainian intelligence, reported on Sunday that North Korea has sent about 50 170mm self-propelled guns and 20 240mm multiple-barreled missile systems to Russia in recent weeks.

The artillery systems are the latest conventional weapons North Korea is believed to have given to Russia, at a time when the two countries are significantly expanding their military cooperation in the face of separate confrontations with the US and its allies.

Last month, the NIS said North Korea has shipped more than 13,000 containers of artillery, missiles and other conventional weapons to Russia since August 2023 to help Moscow replenish its stockpiles. diminished.

The NIS said on Wednesday that in late October some 11,000 North Korean soldiers moved to Russia's Kursk region - where Ukrainian troops have taken control of parts of the territory this year - after first training in northeastern Russia.

The US, Ukraine and other countries have similar estimates of the number of North Korean soldiers in Russia.

They say that North Korean soldiers arrived in Russia in October and that some of them are already engaged in fighting in the Kursk region.

Observers say that North Korea's participation in the almost 3-year war risks escalating the conflict./REL