North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is starting to cut the number of embassies abroad, apparently in a bid to profit more from arms deals with Russia.
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri and the South Korean agency Yonhap.
In October, North Korea closed its embassies in Uganda and Angola, and plans to do so in Hong Kong, Spain and several African countries.
In South Korea, Kim Jong-un is believed to be running out of money to keep all his diplomatic facilities running because of the sanctions. Currently, Pyongyang has 47 embassies, three consulates and three representative offices.
North Korean embassies have been repeatedly accused of illegal activities: smuggling, drug trafficking, transportation of items such as rhino horn and elephant tusks, insurance fraud, money laundering, purchasing luxury items for leaders in Pyongyang, and more. Pyongyang denies everything.
North Korea now has a reduced need to benefit from embassies thanks to agreements with Russia. Since August 2023 , the DPRK has sent more than a million artillery shells to the Russian army.
The high demand for ammunition in the world due to the Russian-Ukrainian war increased their prices. Currently, 155-mm shells of the NATO model cost approximately $3 thousand per piece. If North Korea sold missiles at those prices, the value of its supplies to Russia would exceed $3 billion — more than 10% of its economy.
North Korea has one of the largest stockpiles of ammunition and missiles compatible with the Soviet weapons used by the Russian Federation in the war with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, North Korea is likely to receive Russian cash, access to its banking systems, certain technologies, and assistance in procuring weapons components abroad.
In addition to projectiles, North Korea can also send short-range ballistic missiles, anti-tank missiles, man-portable anti-tank systems, mortars, rocket launchers and cogs to the Russian invaders. The South Korean military told reporters at a briefing, AP reports.
What is known about cooperation between Russia and the DPRK
In September, the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, arrived in Russia for negotiations with Putin about the supply of North Korean weapons to the Russian occupiers. Before that, The New York Times wrote that the parties would discuss military cooperation: Russia would ask for ammunition and weapons, and North Korea would ask for advanced satellite technology and developments related to nuclear submarines.
White House national security official John Kirby said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to North Korea in late July to persuade Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
In September, the head of the GUR, Kyrylo Budanov, noted that the DPRK is transferring 122 and 152 mm artillery shells to Russia, as well as missiles for the Grad rocket launcher systems. The analytical project of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies Beyond Parallel recently recorded that the number of rail freight transportation between North Korea and Russia has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, experts from the British Royal Institute of Defense Research (RUSI) said that North Korea has established regular supplies of ammunition to Russia.