Asian Angle | Russia’s purchase of North Korean arms could boost Kim Jong-un’s nuclear goals
- Moscow buying even more weapons from Pyongyang may have a big impact on the battlefields of Ukraine
- Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un is likely to demand new technology, boosting his weapons programmes and undermining UN sanctions against them
Under an array of Western-led sanctions, Russia and its military contractor, the Wagner Group, have already allegedly turned to Pyongyang for artillery shells and what has been reported as “infantry rockets and missiles” in the past year.
While these sales and a flourishing business relationship with North Korea may have an important impact on the battlefields of Ukraine, my research on North Korea’s arms trading and procurement networks suggests that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is likely to seek technology from Russia in exchange.
This would be a huge boost to Pyongyang’s weapons programmes and, at the same time, be greatly to the detriment of the UN sanctions regime that seeks to limit those programmes.
Flourishing military relationship
Recent developments have suggested a burgeoning arms trading relationship, despite denials from North Korea and the recently deceased Wagner Group owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
