A UN Sanctions investigation team has announced that North Korean missiles were used in the Russo-Ukrainian war. This violates UN sanctions against North Korea and confirms long-suspected military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
According to a report by Reuters on the 29th (local time), citing a 32-page UN Sanctions investigation team’s report, an analysis of the debris of a missile that fell in Kharkiv, Ukraine, earlier this year revealed that it was part of a North Korean Hwasong-11 missile.
The Hwasong-11, the Viper, is a ground-to-ground short-range ballistic missile from North Korea. It is equipped with solid fuel and requires short preparation time, making it evaluated as a threatening tactical missile.
This is a violation of the UN sanctions against North Korea imposed in 2006, which prohibit North Korea from exporting and importing weapons, military equipment, dual-use technologies, and facilities that can be used for military and civilian purposes with other countries.
The UN Sanctions investigation team could not confirm the entity that launched the missile or the launch area but mentioned in the report that Russia likely launched it. They explained, “According to the (missile) trajectory information provided by the Ukrainian authorities, it suggests that it was launched from within the Russian Federation territory,” and “If the missile was launched under the control of the Russian military, such a location suggests the possibility that a person of Russian nationality procured (the missile).”
The permanent missions of Russia and North Korea to the UN have not responded immediately to this news. Therefore, the discovery of evidence of North Korea’s provision of weapons to Russia has deepened suspicions of strengthened military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the US and Ukraine have claimed that Russia is attacking Ukraine using North Korean missiles. Significantly, since last September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, held a summit, suspicions of North Korea’s military support to Russia have been heightened amidst the close cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Still, North Korea and Russia have consistently denied this.
Meanwhile, as the activities of a panel of UN experts monitoring North Korea’s compliance with the UN Security Council’s sanctions ended on the 30th, there are concerns that the UN’s monitoring of North Korea will be weakened. Earlier, the Security Council voted on extending the expert panel’s term on the 28th of last month, but it was rejected due to Russia’s veto.
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