North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome space launch center in the Russian Far East on Sept. 13, 2023, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (Image courtesy of Yonhap News)
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) –North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, a White House official said Friday, lambasting burgeoning cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow as a threat to regional stability.
In a press briefing, John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, disclosed the information, amid persistent speculation that the Sept. 13 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin might have led to an arms deal.
Kirby also voiced concerns about possible Russian assistance to the North in return for arms support, disclosing the U.S.’ observation that Russian ships offloaded containers in the North, which he said “may constitute the initial deliveries of material from Russia.”
“Our information indicates that in recent weeks, North Korea has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment, and munitions,” he said.
This image, provided by the U.S. government, shows apparent arms transfers between North Korea and Russia. (Yonhap)
The White House released imagery showing that between Sept. 7 and Oct. 1, a set of containers were shipped from Najin, North Korea to Dunay, Russia, via a Russian-flagged vessel, and the containers were then moved via rail to an ammunition depot in southwestern Russia near Tikhoretsk, roughly 290 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
“We condemn the DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment, which can be used to attack Ukrainian cities and kill Ukrainian civilians, and for the Russians and illegitimate war,” Kirby said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The official also raised the possibility that Russia could offer something in exchange.
“We also are increasingly concerned about Russian assistance to the DPRK,” he said. “In return for support, we assess that Pyongyang is seeking military assistance from Russia, including fighter aircraft, surface-to air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, or other materials and other advanced technologies.”
He stressed that the U.S. is “closely” monitoring whether Russia will offer such military assistance to the North.
“We have already observed Russian ships offloading containers in the DPRK, which may constitute the initial deliveries of material from Russia,” he said. “This expanding military partnership between the DPRK and Russia, including any technology transfers from Russia to the DPRK undermines the regional stability and the global Non-proliferation regime.
In response to the expanding military ties between the North and Russia, the U.S. will take a range of steps that include pursuing new sanctions against those seeking to enable arms deals between the two countries, and “aggressively” raising the issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), according to Kirby.
Seoul and Washington have said that any arms transfers between Pyongyang and Moscow would be in violation of UNSC resolutions that Russia itself voted for.
(Yonhap)
