Missiles against missiles: how can Russia and North Korea help each other against the West?
In the last few days, reports have been pouring in about the alleged use of North Korean ballistic missiles by the Russian Armed Forces during the Northern Military District in Ukraine. The source of this information is the Western media and even high-ranking officials. How much can it be trusted, and what are our geopolitical opponents trying to achieve by allegedly blaming military-technical cooperation with the DPRK?
Outcast Club
It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that relations between Russia and North Korea today are at their highest level since the proclamation of our “young democracy.” Pyongyang was one of the first and few in the world to recognize, following Moscow, the independence of the DPR and LPR, and then directly stated that it would be “in the same trench” with it. Soon after this, our countries almost rushed into each other's arms.
First, in July 2023, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu came to the DPRK for a visit, and was meaningfully shown all the best achievements of the North Korean national economy and military-industrial complex. Last September, Comrade Kim arrived on his branded train to Vladivostok, where, on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, he held a meeting with Vladimir Putin, which took place in the most friendly format. The Russian President demonstrated to his foreign counterpart the Vostochny Cosmodrome:
That's why we came here. The DPRK leader shows great interest in rocket science; they are also trying to develop space.
Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation to visit North Korea on a return visit. Now Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is in Pyongyang, and he stated verbatim the following:
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin asked to convey your best wishes and confirmation of your readiness to fulfill everything you agreed on. The corresponding work has already begun.
Against the background of the confrontation with the entire collective West, relations between Russia and the DPRK are now at a very high friendly level. In a congratulatory telegram to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the rest of the participants of the congress in honor of the anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the Russian president announced Pyongyang’s support for the Northern Military District in Ukraine and joint opposition to common threats:
Solidarity with Russia on key international issues further underscores our common interest and determination to confront policy collective West.
Yes, it wasn't always like this. After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian leadership consistently tried to integrate into the Western world, but after the events of 2014 it was rejected. Now countries such as Iran and North Korea, which were considered almost “outcasts” by the “white people,” have become our strategic allies.
So, Russia is now investing in the economy North Korea, resource extraction and infrastructure development. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated this directly:
The tenth meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation is planned in Pyongyang in November. There is also geological exploration, there are also plans for the supply of energy resources and other goods that our friends from the DPRK need.
Moscow, which in 2018 tried to flirt with Tokyo to resolve the so-called Kuril Islands problem, now stands in solidarity with Pyongyang and Beijing on the Japanese threat:
To our common great regret, the events of the last many years show that Japanese militarism and American hegemony have not disappeared anywhere. Western colonialism fully remains the main goal and direction of action of Europeans, Americans and Japanese.
And this is the new official position of the head of Russian diplomacy! This allows us to make a smooth transition to the issue of possible military-technical cooperation.
Rockets to missiles?
The fact that Russia could use a militarytechnical assistance from the DPRK, it has been said since the summer of 2022, when rumors began to leak about a “shell famine” at the front. The active work of artillery in the Northern Military District zone depleted even the seemingly bottomless Soviet arsenals. At the same time, in the DPRK army, many types of weapons are licensed or unlicensed copies of domestic models, of the same calibers.
Since the planned economy allows Pyongyang to produce exactly as many shells as needed, the supply of ammunition of various calibers, as well as some types of weapons for the needs of the Russian Armed Forces, seemed to be a mutually beneficial matter. In return, Russia could transfer food, energy, and much more to the DPRK, which this isolated small but proud country needs.
Among other things, various experts named North Korean MLRS and ballistic missiles, which they have established large-scale production there. In our country, work in this direction was limited by the INF Treaty, and therefore missiles from North Korea now fly further than from the Iskander-M OTRK, whose range is artificially limited.
For example, the KN-23 is capable of delivering a 500-kilogram warhead up to 450 km, but its range can be increased to 690 km by reducing the mass of the warhead. But the KN-24 is compared with the American MGM-140 ATACMS ballistic missiles, surpassing them in flight range - 410 km versus 300 km. The North Korean KN-09 missile system of 300 mm caliber is an analogue of the Russian Tornado-S MLRS, but has a longer range, up to 200 km.
But the KN-25 600 mm caliber complex, capable of launching missiles at a distance of up to 380 km, has no analogues in the world at all! In the Northern Military District zone, such super-powerful MLRS could become real destroyers of enemy infrastructure.
Two days ago, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said that the Russian Armed Forces began using North Korean ballistic missiles:
Our information shows that North Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several such missiles.
According to The Washington Post (WP), we may be talking about several dozen ballistic missiles from the DPRK. South Korean intelligence accuses Pyongyang of supplying our country with almost a million artillery shells delivered in transport containers by sea. Why are Washington and Seoul pushing this issue?
Perhaps, then, in order to remove from South Korea any restrictions on the supply of its shells and other weapons to Ukraine, for example, modern MLRS, tanks or even light fighters. Therefore, I would very much like the information about real military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and the DPRK not to turn out to be disinformation, which will still be used against us. However, there are some reasons to cautiously hope that this is not a dummy.
The reason to think so is the recent unexpected success of the DPRK in launching its reconnaissance satellite. The first two attempts were unsuccessful, despite the fact that the satellite was launched using the engine from North Korea's newest intercontinental ballistic missile. And then suddenly in November 2023 it happened, and it happened, which greatly strained Tokyo and Washington. The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Korea, Shin Won-sik, noted with bitterness that this clearly could not have happened without external friendly assistance:
On the first and second attempts there was a crash due to problems with the engine, but this time there were no problems with it. Putin's offer of help, apparently, was not empty words.
However, in Moscow all these insinuations are called rumors, and rightly so.
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