Revealed: North Korea Ships Decades-Old Munitions to Russia

In May 2024, emerging reports indicated an alleged provision of rocket artillery shells from the 1970s by North Korea to Russia. In response, South Korean intelligence initiated a comprehensive probe to verify these accusations.

On May 12th, South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency revealed it was investigating its suspicion that North Korea provided artillery shells and other weaponry made in the 1970s to Russia amid Moscow’s deepening cooperation with Pyongyang. 

Yonhap News Agency reported the National Intelligence Agency released a statement following a report from a media outlet that asserted 122-millimeter rocket artillery shells made by North Korea in the 1970s were among the many weapons and munitions Pyongyang shipped to Russia. 

"The NIS is analyzing the relevant circumstance in detail and also continues to track overall military cooperation between North Korea and Russia," the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) said according to Yonhap News Agency. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Dmitry A. Mottl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Images released by a Ukrainian photographer in 2023 showed Korean letters on some Russian equipment, including the Korean word “방-122”, which Yonhap News Agency reported was inscribed on rocket artillery shells. 

Experts indicated that the shells were likely 122-millimeter rocket artillery shells, which was what likely prompted the interest of South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency. Russia has received significant shipments of military aid from North Korea. 

In February 2024, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik revealed North Korea had sent roughly 6,700 shipping containers of the military alliance to Russia as part of an ongoing arms transfer between the two countries. 

"It could possibly be a mix of the two, and you can say that at least several million shells have been sent," Minister Shin explained to reporters during a media briefing on February 26th, 2024 according to Reuters. 

Minister Shin also noted that the shipping containers of military aid may have contained more than 3 million 152-millimeter artillery shells or 500,000 122-millimeter rounds, and he said North Korean factories producing shells for Russia were working "at full swing." 

In March, Minister Shin reported that North Korea had shipped upwards of 7,000 since it began providing Moscow with military assistance and added that Pyongyang received at least 9,000 containers in return, likely filled with aid according to the Associated Press. 

The U.S. State Department also provided an estimate regarding the number of shipping containers of munitions and munition-related help sent to Russia from North Korea but it surpassed South Korean figures, estimating 10,000 containers had been shipped. 

During an interview with Bloomberg in June 2024, Minister Shin upped the estimation of North Korean shipping containers sent to the Russians to 10,000 and claimed they could have roughly 4.8 million artillery shells. 

August 2024 estimations pushed the number of shipping containers sent to Russia up to 13,000 according to a Defense Intelligence Agency report Newsweek noted had been submitted to Kang Dae-sik, a South Korean lawmaker and member of the country's ruling People Power Party.

"North Korea delivered weapons shipments that could hold more than 6 million 152-millimeter artillery shells through its eastern port of Najin over the two years following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine," Billal Rahmen of Newsweek reported.

A more recent report from The Time published in October 2024 revealed that as many as half the artillery shells Russia is using, in the war against Ukraine, which is about 3 million per year, are coming from North Korea, according to Western intelligence.

"Although many of the shells are believed to be faulty, the sheer quantity has allowed Russia to make steady gains, most recently capturing the eastern Ukrainian city of Vuhledar," wrote The Times' George Grylls.

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