US Admiral Says North Korea Shipping Hundreds of Ballistic Missiles to Russia

Admiral Samuel Paparo, the new commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), said that new intelligence had been received relating to North Korean weapons supplies to Russia during a briefing for the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

He said Pyongyang had sent “maybe hundreds of thousands of artillery shells” and “hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles” to support Russian operations in Ukraine. In return, North Korea will receive advanced air defense equipment, including surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems and other technology.

The types of systems Russia has offered have not been confirmed, but he said that even second-tier Russian systems would improve North Korea’s ability to defend against aerial threats.

Paparo said the implications of this growing military collaboration went well beyond the threat to Ukraine as it could threaten regional stability, including the security of the US, Japan and South Korea.  He suggested that a more militarily capable North Korea was likely to step up provocations, increasing the risk of conflict against Washington’s allies.

He described the alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang as a marriage of convenience, “a transactional symbiosis where each state fulfills the other state’s weakness to mutual benefit of each state.”

The arms-for-technology partnership, further bolstered Pyongyang’s troop deployments alongside the Russian military against Ukraine in late 2024, has caused alarm among the US and South Korean authorities.

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Open-source intelligence has repeatedly identified the movement of North Korean weapon systems by rail in Russia, including KN-15 medium-range and KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, Koksan M-178/1989 170 mm self-propelled howitzers and large quantities of artillery ammunition as Russia exhausts its stocks.

According to the Czech military issues Defense and Security magazine, an unnamed US defense official said of the transfers: “This is more than just an arms deal. It is a strategic alignment between two authoritarian regimes that are pushing back against a Western-led order. We are seeing a dangerous convergence of interests.”

Several military analysts have expressed concern that Moscow could be providing Pyongyang with nuclear delivery, satellite or cyberattack technology. Commentators say that it is essential that this technology transfer and weapons testing is closely monitored, with some saying the US should consider stepping up the sanctions against Pyongyang or even military countermeasures to interrupt the supply chain.