Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu together with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a defense exhibition in Pyongyang. The banned DPRK ballistic missiles were presented there.
Reuters writes about this.
A Russian delegation arrived in North Korea this week for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day." This is Shoiguʼs first visit to the DPRK after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The photo shows ballistic missiles and a drone. Shoigu handed Kim a letter from the Russian president, and Kim Jong Un thanked Putin.
North Koreaʼs Defense Minister Kang Sun-nam said that North Korea fully supports Russiaʼs "battle for justice" and the protection of its sovereignty. And Shoigu, during a speech at a reception at the Ministry of Defense of the DPRK, called the North Korean army "the strongest in the world."
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that Russiaʼs contacts with North Korea are taking place at a time when the Kremlin is trying to buy weapons.
"Itʼs no secret... Putin is turning to other countries for help and support in waging his war in Ukraine. And that includes, as we know, some contacts with North Korea," he noted.
- On September 5, 2022, The New York Times, citing declassified US intelligence, reported that Russia is buying artillery shells and short-range missiles from North Korea. Later, the White House also informed that it had information about Russiaʼs plans to purchase millions of ammunition for artillery and short-range missiles from North Korea.
- In early November 2022, the United States officially accused the DPRK of secretly supplying Russia with artillery shells. Later, the satellite recorded a train on the route to the Russian Federation, which had not functioned for several years.
- At the end of December 2022, the Reuters agency wrote that the Russian PMC "Wagner" received a shipment of weapons from North Korea.
- On March 30, the US Treasury Departmentʼs Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions against Slovakian citizen Ashot Mkrtychev, who facilitated shipments from North Korea to Russia.
- Pyongyang rejects accusations of arms sales to Russia and calls them "baseless rumours".