Key Points
- Ukraine has accused Russian forces of using missiles from North Korea.
- Social media shows evidence of North Korean Hwasong-11 missile fragments from recent attacks.
- Moscow and Pyongyang, while denying past arms deals, pledged last year to strengthen their military ties.
Russia multiple North Korea-made ballistic missiles at Ukraine recently, the White House said on Thursday, the first time the North's latest weapons have been used in battle.
Here's is what we know about the missiles and where they came from.
What missiles did Russia use?
While the White House would not specify what type of missiles Pyongyang had sent to Russia, National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said the missiles have a range of about 900 km and are believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, including the KN-23 and KN-25 (SRBMs).
Joost Oliemans, a Dutch researcher and expert on North Korea's military, said images from Ukrainian social media accounts clearly show fragments of the ring housing the control vanes that are characteristic of North Korea's Hwasong-11 family of missiles.
The solid-fuel KN-23 was first tested in May 2019, and is designed to evade missile defences by flying on a lower, "depressed" trajectory, which complicates efforts to detect and intercept them, experts said.
North Korea has test-fired it from wheeled launch vehicles, train cars, a buried silo, and a submerged submarine.
Oliemans asserted that, despite external characteristics, this missile family does not seem to be substantially linked to the Russian 9K720 Iskander. Instead, it is identified as an indigenous North Korean development
The KN-24, also powered by solid fuel, was first tested in 2019 and appears to have entered mass production and deployment with military units. It is also designed to fly on a flatter trajectory than traditional ballistic missiles.
"North Korean technical advisers may be present in Russia to advise on the use of these systems," said Ankit Panda from the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Where did Russia get the missiles?
North Korea has been under a United Nations arms embargo since it first tested a nuclear bomb in 2006. UN Security Council resolutions — approved with Russian support — ban countries from trading weapons or other military equipment with North Korea.
In November, South Korean authorities said North Korea may have supplied SRBMs to Russia as part of a larger arms deal that also included anti-tank and anti-air missiles, artillery and mortar shells, and rifles.
Both Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied conducting any arms deals, but vowed last year to deepen military relations. Source: AAP / TASS/Sipa USA
Since August, Rason port on North Korea's northeast coast has seen visits from Russian ships linked to that country’s military logistics system, according to US and South Korean officials and reports by Western researchers citing satellite imagery.
As of November, North Korea had sent an estimated 2,000 shipping containers from Rason suspected of carrying those weapons, including possibly the SRBMs, South Korea has said.
The KN-24 appears to be assembled at an armaments factory in Sinhung, which was visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in August, Oliemans said.
"The examples photographed back then might well have been shipped to Russia just months later," he said.
Kim has called for the defence industry to increase its output to respond to US threats but has not mentioned providing weapons to Russia.
What does North Korea get from the deal?
Kirby has stated that according to US intelligence, North Korea is interested in obtaining military aid from Russia, including fighter planes, surface-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles, materials for ballistic missile production, and other advanced technologies.
Some experts have questioned whether Moscow would be willing to share sensitive military technology with Pyongyang.
"There is any number of things that Russia and North Korea have discussed as part of their deepening relations, from increasing trade to setting up joint agricultural zones to updating North Korea's antiquated air force, to cooperation on satellites," Jenny Town, director of the Stimson Center's 38 North Program, said.
North Korea would benefit from any data on the battlefield performance of its missiles, but it is unclear if Russia will share that, Panda said.
"The most valuable data would concern the performance of these missiles against Ukrainian air defence systems, including those supplied by NATO," he said.
