US says DPRK already sent 10,000 containers with military munitions to russia

Russia has already received at least 10,000 containers loaded with military munitions from North Korea for the war in Ukraine, Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), told the Voice of America (VOA).

"We know that there have been at least 10,000 containers that have gone from DPRK to Russia. And DPRK is not doing this for free. There are almost certainly things that DPRK wants in return. And we're concerned about what might be going to the other side,” Jung Pak said.

According to her, the United States also has data that russia uses North Korean ballistic missiles for strikes on Ukraine. In particular, the Americans recorded 10 cases of their use.

As Jung Pak noted, the United States is concerned about what the DPRK can learn from watching russia use its weapons on the battlefield. Washington believes that all this will give an incentive to Pyongyang to further advance its weapons program.

“So, this is a really dangerous time,” the official admitted.

Jung Pak expressed deep concern about the rapprochement between the DPRK and russia - a permanent member of the UN Security Council - in the last two years of the war with Ukraine. Russian president vladimir putin has previously personally imposed sanctions against North Korea for nuclear missile tests, supporting the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. Now Pyongyang easily violates the arms embargo and other bans with moscow's consent.

“We think the DPRK is probably looking for ballistic missile technologies, or other advanced technologies, or surface-to-air missiles, or armored vehicles. We've observed a significant increase in exchanges across military, leadership, economic, and cultural levels. So, it's pretty apparent that the two sides are getting closer and closer together,” Jung Pak summed up.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on March 18, the head of the South Korean Defense Ministry, Shin Won-sik, said that since last year, the DPRK has sent almost 7,000 containers with 3 million units of ammunition and other military equipment to russia. According to him, mainly such goods were delivered by sea, but recently they have been transported by rail. The representative of South Korea argued at a special meeting of the UN Security Council that the DPRK uses Ukraine as a test site for testing its missiles.

Although moscow and Pyongyang deny arms cooperation, the United States identified companies and persons involved in the transportation of DPRK ballistic missiles and related cargo in late November 2023 and imposed sanctions against them.

Ukraine said that since the start of the full-scale invasion, russia has launched about 50 missiles produced by North Korea at six regions of Ukraine. According to experts, the range of these shells is about 700 kilometers, but due to very poor quality, they often explode in the air.