South Korea’s intelligence agency has confirmed that it is tracking North Korea’s trend of supplying multiple rocket launchers, produced in the 1970s, to Russia amidst the Ukrainian war. They have also detected North Korea’s illegal procurement of foreign components for advanced weapons production.
According to the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) on May 12th, they are analyzing the situation where multiple rocket launchers from North Korea are included in the weapons used by Russia in the Ukrainian war.
In July last year, a Ukrainian photographer revealed pictures of shells with Korean writings, such as “Bang-122” and “Paji” (fragmentation mines) from the battlefield. At that time, South Korean military authorities captured the situation of supplying the said shells to Russia but did not disclose any follow-up measures. The 122mm artillery shells found in Ukraine with Korean markings also have numbers that can be estimated to have been produced in the 1970s.
The NIS is also identifying the situation where parts from foreign companies in Russia and China are illegally introduced into North Korea’s advanced weapons improvement and development. The NIS said, “We are continuously tracking military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea’s missile export trends to Russia.”
Earlier in February, the UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) disclosed an analysis showing that 91% of the components in North Korean ballistic missile debris found in Ukraine were from the US and Europe. Experts are suggesting the possibility that North Korea received parts from Russia and China, avoiding the surveillance of the international community.
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