Since the start of the offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, few countries have shown as much loyalty and support towards Russia as North Korea. From initial political support at the start of the conflict to the transfer of short-range ballistic missiles in recent months, Pyongyang has consistently provided Moscow with all possible support in this conflict, including by dissociating itself from Beijing on several occasions.
The transfer of Hwasong-11A, or KN-23, ballistic missiles from the beginning of 2024 seemed to constitute a ceiling beyond which Pyongyang could not go, to support the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, however, some information has leaked from Ukrainian intelligence services, reporting the presence of North Korean soldiers near the lines of engagement. Information that has gained a lot of credibility in recent days, now that Kim Yong-hyun, the South Korean Minister of Defense, has confirmed the death of several North Korean soldiers during a Ukrainian artillery strike in Donbass.
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North Korea's military support for Moscow has been steadily increasing since the start of the conflict in Ukraine
After more than two decades, during which Moscow had aligned itself with Western positions regarding North Korea, particularly in terms of sanctions and the ban on delivering weapons and defense technologies to the country, the two countries renewed privileged relations, from 2019, and the first visit of Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok, to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
However, it was North Korea's stance in support of Russia at the United Nations General Assembly at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that brought relations between Pyongyang and Moscow to a decisive stage, towards a rapprochement now close to a de facto military alliance.
Thus, as early as the summer of 2022, there were rumors of negotiations between the two countries on the acquisition of several hundred thousand artillery shells and rockets, to support the Russian defense effort, the two armies sharing the same equipment standards in this area.
Satellite observations of the narrow border between the two countries showed, from October 2022, the first trains heavily loaded with munitions, transiting from North Korea to Russia. A flow that has never dried up since.
In September 2023, Kim Jong Un visited Russia in person, as part of a visit organized by the Kremlin. The North Korean head of state visited, among other things, the Komsomolsk aviation factory. He met, during a long four-hour interview, the Russian president, on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which is intended to be the response to the Davos meetings for the countries of Eurasia.
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