Pyongyang has reportedly sent more artillery systems and rocket launchers to Russia, according to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).
AP News reported Wednesday that the update was communicated to South Korean lawmakers during a closed-door briefing at parliament, where lawmaker Lee Seong Kweun then relayed the information to reporters.
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Lee said the latest exports comprised Pyongyang’s 170mm self-propelled guns and 240mm multiple rocket launch systems – systems not currently in service with the Russian military, meaning Pyongyang troops are likely present to help instruct and maintain the weapons in Russia, according to Lee.
The Financial Times (FT), citing Ukrainian intelligence, reported on Nov. 17 that Pyongyang delivered 50 domestically produced 170mm M1989 self-propelled howitzers and 20 updated 240mm multiple launch rocket systems in recent weeks.”
AP News added that photos of Pyongyang’s “Koksan” 170mm self-propelled guns were seen circulating on Russian social media last week.
Lee said the NIS also assessed that an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers had been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region by late October to help Moscow retake the region from Ukrainian control.
The NIS said the soldiers were trained in northeast Russia – presumably Far East Russia based on earlier reports – where they were then assigned to Russia’s marine and airborne forces units, some of which are already engaged in combat.
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Park Sunwon, another South Korean lawmaker, corroborated Lee’s statements to AP News but added the NIS couldn’t provide an assessment of Pyongyang troop casualties.
North Korean troops’ deployment to Russia prompted Washington to lift restrictions for Kyiv to strike Russia with US long-range weapons on Sunday.
Ukraine and South Korea both claimed in mid-October that Pyongyang had deployed troops to aid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, likely as a result of a mutual defense pact signed in June.
However, North Korea’s weapon supplies consisting of artillery shells and missiles alike could be traced back as early as 2023, prior to the North Korean troop deployments this year, per a Kyiv Post analysis.
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