The analytical project of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies Beyond Parallel recorded that the number of rail freight transportation between North Korea and Russia has increased dramatically.
This is evidenced by satellite images of the North Korean Tumangang railway station on October 5. About 73 wagons were parked there — this is a record number. Previously, there were at most 20 wagons.
In addition to wagons, containers and equipment can be seen at the station. What is inside is unknown. Everything was covered.
The station now has a much higher level of rail traffic than Beyond Parallel has observed at the facility over the past five years. The DPRK, most likely, plans to expand the capacity of Tumangang because it is building a new warehouse.
What preceded it
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.
The US is worried about active negotiations between North Korea and Russia about weapons. White House national security official John Kirby said that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to North Korea in late July to try to persuade Pyongyang to sell artillery ammunition to Russia.
Last September, the White House said it had information about Russiaʼs plans to buy short-range missiles and millions of artillery shells from North Korea. And the NYT newspaper wrote that even then, Russia was buying shells for artillery and short-range missiles from North Korea.