North Korea has sent new shipments of artillery systems and rocket launchers to Russia to support its war effort in Ukraine, Lee Seong-kweun, a South Korean parliamentarian, said on Wednesday, November 20.
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There North Korea has ” sent 170mm self-propelled artillery and 240mm long-range rocket launchers said South Korean parliamentarian Lee Seong-kweun, a member of a parliamentary committee dedicated to intelligence, after a briefing by the South Korean National Intelligence Service (SNR). North Korea has also deployed personnel to take care of the maintenance of these weapons which are not part of Russia’s conventional arsenal, he added, without giving further details.
“ Combat »
Seoul accuses Pyongyang of supplying weapons and more recently thousands of soldiers to its ally, in the midst of a cycle of strengthening their ties. These soldiers were assigned to Russia’s air brigades and navy for tactical and response training. It is estimated that some have engaged in combat » in the Kursk border region, continued Mr. Lee. According to him, intelligence puts the number of North Koreans sent to Russia for the war at 11,000 and understands that these troops “ suffer losses “.
“ Compliant »
Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow have confirmed the presence of these soldiers. North Korea, however, affirmed at the end of October 2024 that any deployment would be “ compliant » to international law. The two allies are linked by a mutual defense treatyrecently ratified. According to analysts, the North’s acceleration of weapons tests could be a preliminary step to new shipments of equipment to Russia. The growing commitment of Pyongyang in favor of Moscow pushed Seoul to change its position regarding the war in Ukraine, no longer excluding delivering weapons directly to kyiv.
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