The DPRK sends its people, weapons, ammunition and the best generals to the war in Ukraine. Why does North Korea have such an ally as Russia?

Author:
Oleksiy Yarmolenko
Editor:
Glib Gusiev
Date:
The DPRK sends its people, weapons, ammunition and the best generals to the war in Ukraine. Why does North Korea have such an ally as Russia?

Portraits of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in the central square of Pyongyang, where a ceremony was held in honour of Putinʼs visit to the DPRK, on June 19, 2024.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

North Korea has become very close to Russia in the last two years. It supplies them [Russians] with ammunition, missiles and even people. The Russians pay them back with food and modern military technology. Their cooperation has reached a maximum since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Babel recalls the history of relations between the Russian Federation and the DPRK and tells why Kim Jong Un needs Russia.

North Korea has always supported Russia — this is how it happened historically.

This country was created by two communist states: the USSR and China. The Kim regime always focused on them, received help and support from them in foreign policy.

Portraits of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin (top row) on parade in the central square of Pyongyang. This is a celebration of the eighth anniversary of liberation from Japanese occupation on August 15, 1953.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

From the very beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the DPRK stood up for Russia on all international platforms. Its representatives did not support the UN resolution condemning Russian aggression, violating rights in the occupied territories, or supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Korea stated that it recognizes Crimea as Russian.

During the Great War, North Korea continued to support Russia. The official propaganda media did not mention the war directly, but constantly praised the Russian authorities. For example, for the way it defends its security interests.

On July 13, 2022, North Korea officially recognized the "L/DNR". In response, Ukraine broke diplomatic relations with it, which were already at the very low level. At one time, North Korea closed its embassy in Kyiv, as in many other Eastern European countries, in order to save money. But the DPRK was interested in Ukrainian technologies, especially missile technologies. One of the most high-profile cases of espionage occurred in 2011, when Ukrainian counterintelligence caught two North Korean agents planning to steal documents from the PA Pivdenmash. Both received 8 years in prison.

After 2022, cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow began to grow.

Already in September, the United States declared that North Korea was preparing to supply ammunition to Russia, and in a few months it was officially confirmed. In 2023, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un paid an official visit to Russia. He declared that he supports the Russian Federation in its "sacred struggle" with the West and confirms that his country "will always be with Russia". Putin admitted that the DPRK is interested in rocket technology to build its own satellites and explore space.

Kim Jong Un during an official visit to Russia at the Vostochnyi cosmodrome, September 2023.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

In 2024, it became clear that the partnership between Russia and the DPRK is reaching a new, higher level. At the UN Security Council, where Russia has always looked back at Chinaʼs position on North Korea, the Russian representative vetoed the extension of the mandate of the Group of Experts, which was investigating whether international sanctions against the DPRK were being followed. The mandate of this group has been extended annually since 2010. Already in June, Putin personally went to Pyongyang, where he signed a defense pact with the DPRK, which obliges Russia and North Korea to come to each otherʼs aid in the event of an attack.

During the two years of the Great War, relations between Russia and the DPRK became the closest since the collapse of the Soviet Union. North Korea sends millions of ammunition to Russia. At the end of 2023, the Russians attacked Ukraine for the first time with North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles. In the summer of 2024, a Ukrainian drone detected an anti-tank installation on the front, very similar to the North Korean Bulsae-4. And already in November, pictures of “Koksan” long-range artillery systems from the DPRK being transported by Russia appeared on the Internet.

Operational-tactical missile complex of the DPRK KN-23.
A North Korean M1989 Koksan artillery mount spotted on echelon in Russia.

Operational-tactical missile complex of the DPRK KN-23. A North Korean M1989 Koksan artillery mount spotted on echelon in Russia.

The most important supply from North Korea is military.

In October 2024, Western media began to write that the DPRK sent its troops to the territory of Russia. The South Korean intelligence has described in detail how it happened: with the number of people, routes, as well as training grounds where the Northʼs military is trained. The Ukrainian intelligence reported that Russia plans to use them in the Kursk region to push out the Ukrainian army. In total, the Russian Federation gathered about 10 000 North Korean troops.

One of the leaders of the North Korean group in Russia is the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the North Korean Army, General Kim Yongbok. He is close to Kim Jong Un and runs the largest special forces unit in the world. He was in the shadows for a long time, but he began to appear in public precisely after Putinʼs visit to Pyongyang.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the North Korean Army, General Kim Yongbok.

Getty Images / «Babel'»

Together with Kim Jong Un, he sometimes visited flood-affected regions and was nearby during military exercises. The last time the North Korean media mentioned him was on October 6 — a few days after that, Kim Yongbok left for Russia. But whether this general is alive now is unknown. Ukraine received permission to strike Russia with Western long-range missiles — and hit one of the Russian command posts in the Kursk region with them. Most likely, it was there that one of the North Korean generals was wounded, as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote about.

In exchange for support, Kim Jong Un receives military technology from Russia.

Apart from the missiles that North Korea regularly tests, the overall state of its military is outdated. A large number of tanks and armored vehicles are old Soviet developments. In aviation, although there are MiG-29 and Su-25 aircraft, on which Ukraine is also fighting, there are also many older versions. The same applies to air defense systems.

Western media and researchers regularly report that Russia pays North Korea for military aid. It helps it circumvent sanctions and has delivered a million barrels of oil since the beginning of 2024 alone. Kim does not forget about food either, because hunger in the DPRK is a constant problem, since North Korea invests most of the state funds in the development of the defense and industrial complex, and not in the economy and the welfare of the population. Russia plans to transfer 600 000 to 700 000 tons of rice to the DPRK, and has already sent almost 500 goats.

The main concern in the West is the possible transfer from Russia of modern missile and nuclear technologies.

There is no confirmation of this yet, but already in October, the DPRK allegedly successfully tested a ballistic missile that reached the highest altitude — 8 000 km. The Japanese government says that if this missile had flown on a normal trajectory, it could have covered up to 15 000 kilometers. This is enough to get to almost any point in the US. In addition, South Korea confirmed that the Russians are helping to strengthen air defense over Pyongyang. Experts say that Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile complexes, radar systems and anti-aircraft missiles are likely to have gone to North Korea.

North Koreaʼs ballistic missile test.

Against the background of these events, the tension on the Korean Peninsula is growing.

In March 2022, the opposition candidate — conservative Yoon Seokyeol — won the presidential election in South Korea. He, unlike his liberal opponents, has taken a tougher stance on North Korea and advocates increased military cooperation with the United States. Up to the point of placing American nuclear weapons on the territory of South Korea.

After Yoon Seokyeolʼs victory, the two Koreas began to exchange signals. They send each other drones with propaganda leaflets or litter, increase the number of propaganda loudspeakers, conduct military exercises and declare the troops on alert at the border. In 2024, Kim Jong Un changed the foreign policy of the DPRK and abandoned the established goal of his grandfather and father — the reunification of Korea. Now he threatens to completely "destroy" the US and South Korea if provoked, closes all agencies responsible for reconciliation with Seoul, and rewrites the DPRK Constitution to establish South Korea as the main enemy.

North Korea blows up a road and a railway line on the border with South Korea, October 2024.

Under these conditions, why does North Korea have modern military technology from Russia, as well as combat experience for its troops, is a rhetorical question.

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