A top Biden administration official stated that Russia’s “full embrace” of North Korea would make Kim Jong Un more willing to take chances when it comes to threatening South Korea, selling weapons overseas, and supporting Pyongyang in defying Washington’s request to resume nuclear negotiations.
The “whole gamut” of improved diplomatic ties with Russia, from economic and security assistance to high-profile visits by top Russian officials, has benefited Pyongyang as it ships weapons to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, according to an interview conducted on Monday by Jung Pak, the senior State Department official for North Korea.
“This has the potential to bestow upon this once-island nation a sense of legitimacy that it does not merit and never should have,” Pak stated. “We’re worried about how that might affect Kim’s risk assessment and what it might do to give the impression that his leash is longer than it actually is.”
According to Pak, North Korea has so far sent 40 ballistic missiles that are being utilised in Ukraine, along with about 11,000 weapons containers to Russia. This has given Putin’s forces more strength after they became stuck when their initial march on Kyiv failed and as a wave of Western sanctions meant to hurt Russia’s economy undermined Russia’s defence industrial base.
According to South Korea’s Defence Minister Shin Wonsik, Seoul believes the containers have the capacity to contain almost three million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells, which are used by the Kremlin to strike Ukraine. Due to the US Congress’s hold on military aid, this has increased Putin’s arsenal of weapons while Kyiv’s ammo supply has decreased.
In exchange, Russia gives North Korea food, raw materials, and parts for making weapons, according to Shin. In addition, he said that Pyongyang’s danger to the area may grow as a result of the military assistance, even though Kim has been able to stabilise food prices.
With the help of Russia, North Korea’s economy may have experienced its largest boost since Kim took office. The artillery alone is probably worth several billion dollars. Although several satellite images published by research organisations and the US government demonstrate the movement of weapons from North Korea to Russia and subsequently to munitions dumps close to the Ukrainian border, Moscow and Pyongyang have refuted the charges of arms transfers.
Russia’s veto of a proposal in the UN Security Council to prolong the mandate of a panel of specialists reporting on North Korea’s nuclear arsenal development for 15 years is one significant way that North Korea has profited diplomatically from its growing ties with Moscow, according to Pak.
Kim has publicly displayed tests of some of his most recent weaponry on official media. Tuesday, North Korea’s propaganda machine celebrated the country’s most recent test, which was conducted under Kim’s supervision one day earlier and involved the simultaneous firing of short-range ballistic missiles. The test was intended to demonstrate the country’s capacity to launch a swift retaliation using a “nuclear trigger” system.
The US claims that Chinese companies have played a critical role in helping the Kremlin restore its defence industrial base by providing dual-use technologies and other components, even as North Korea has defied Western sanctions and efforts to stop Russia’s war machine. Chinese banks and businesses have also been held accountable for allegedly enabling payments to North Korean organisations, with the proceeds going towards Kim Jong Un’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons projects.
Department spokesman Matthew Miller informed reporters at a news briefing that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken intends to discuss North Korea’s provocations when he visits China in the coming days.
It was unclear whether the US will take comparable measures with Chinese banks that are linked with North Korea, even though Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen threatened Chinese financial firms that supported Russia’s war with sanctions during a recent visit to China.