The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has confirmed in an unclassified report that Russia used North Korean-made ballistic missiles in its war against Ukraine. In its analysis published at the end of May, the DIA discovered striking similarities between images of missile debris found in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after the Jan. 2, 2024 attack and photos of short-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles (SRBMs) in North Korean state media showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visiting a missile factory last August.
According to the DIA, the eight attachment tabs in the forward motor section used to mount the flight instruments and payload to the engine were identical in both images examined, as was the igniter used to start the rocket engine at launch. The latter was assembled with 20 bolts in both the North Korean missiles and the Kharkiv debris.
The physical features of the aft motor section of a North Korean SRBM system, too, matched those of missile debris from Kharkiv, according to the DIA: the bolted-on nozzle that directs the engine’s exhaust plume as well as mounting holes in the tail section. The proportions of the cable tray and the handling ring connectors were also identical.
The DIA’s report comes after an investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors, who told Reuters news agency in early May that they examined debris from 21 of around 50 North Korean ballistic missiles launched by Russia between last December and February. “About half of the North Korean missiles lost their programmed trajectories and exploded in the air; in such cases the debris was not recovered,” the office of Ukraine’s top prosecutor, Andriy Kostin, then wrote in a statement to Reuters.
A chronology of Russian-North Korean negotiations and arms deals
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, both Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied accusations that North Korea has supplied weapons to Russia for the war effort. However, in its report, the DIA notes that two weapons systems were tested on the east coast of the DPRK as early as 2019, both of which were allegedly utilized by Russia in Ukraine. Since then, the DPRK has also conducted dozens of flight tests of SRBMs, which are believed to be more powerful than Pyongyang’s older Soviet-era liquid-propellant systems.
Just over six months after the start of the war in Ukraine, on Sep. 5, 2022, the White House released information that Russia was negotiating with the DPRK to purchase millions of artillery shells and missiles. According to the DIA, the DPRK delivered ammunition to Russia’s “Wagner Group,” a state-funded private military company, in November 2022.
In 2023, North Korea and Russia conspicuously deepened both their trade and diplomatic relations. In addition to increased trade in goods and mutual support between the two countries before the international community and the United Nations in particular, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu visited the DPRK in July to attend a military parade and defense exhibition showcasing Pyongyang’s growing ballistic missile program. Shortly thereafter in August, a Russian military plane made an unannounced trip to Pyongyang, reportedly carrying several high-ranking Russian Defense Ministry officials. The timing suggests that a delegation involved in high-level arms negotiations was on board, the DIA believes. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, in turn, traveled to Russia in September – his first trip abroad since 2019 – to meet Russia’s state leader Vladimir Putin for a suspected arms deal and tour the Federation’s military facilities.
Already in late August, the DPRK had allegedly begun to supply Russia with ammunition using Russia’s merchant ships. Further deliveries are said to have taken place in November, when Russian planes allegedly picked up North Korean ballistic missiles and associated cargo, which were then tested at a firing range in western Russia.
According to the DIA report, the Russian armed forces fired North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine for the first time on Dec. 30, 2023; further attacks followed until February 2024. Despite the backlash of the international community, on Mar. 28, 2024, Russia vetoed the renewal of the UNSC 1718 Committee Panel of Experts mandate, which investigates DPRK violations of Security Council resolutions.
The DPRK’s missile program began in the 1976 under Kim Il Sung
The North Korean missile program commenced in 1976 under former leader Kim Il Sung when the country first acquired the short-range SCUD-B missile from the Soviets, brokered through Egypt. After reverse engineering the SCUD technology, the regime conducted its first missile tests in 1984. Since then, North Korea has run more than 244 tests of numerous weapons systems, including short-, medium-, intermediate- and intercontinental-range ballistic missiles – the latter of which the North Korean government claims can reach the continental United States – as well as submarine-launched ballistic missiles and space rockets.
Pyongyang has historically sold ballistic missile systems and components to countries such as Burma, Iran, Libya, Syria and Yemen. Furthermore, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) confirmed earlier this year the deployment of North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) with Korean characters such as “비저-7류” and “시8-80-53” by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in its war with Israel.
In view of the new findings from the Russian war against Ukraine, the DIA assumes that the DPRK is continuing to work on expanding its missile program – also in order to demonstrate its willingness to use ballistic missiles in the event of war and make them available to its allies. “The Kim regime remains willing to provide ballistic missiles to countries for use in furthering conflicts, exemplified by its shipment of dozens of ballistic missiles to Russia to sustain Moscow’s ongoing conflict against Ukraine,” the US intelligence agency said.
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June 03, 2024 at 12:35PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)