North Korea has supplied more than a million missiles to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine, South Korea's main spy agency has revealed to lawmakers.
North Korea is suspected of sending short-range ballistic, anti-tank and portable anti-air missiles to Russia as well as rifles, rocket launchers, mortars and shells, South Korea's military told local reporters on Thursday.
In a private briefing with lawmakers on Wednesday, South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that more than a million artillery shells have been sent to Russia since August via ships and transport planes, AP reported.
The NIS said the deliveries roughly amounted to two months' worth of shells for Russia, according to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum who attended the NIS briefing.
Both Russia and North Korea dismissed the weapons shipment accusations as baseless.
Russian forces have intensified their attacks on Ukraine over the last week, shelling more than 100 towns and villages over 24 hours — the highest number since the beginning of the year.
“Over the last 24 hours, the enemy shelled 118 settlements in 10 regions,” Ukrainian minister Oleksandr Klymenko said on Wednesday.
North Korea has been pushing to expand cooperation with Russia and China in the face of security tensions with the US and pandemic-caused national hardships.
Last week, South Korea, the US and Japan strongly condemned North Korea's alleged supplying of munitions and military equipment to Russia.
The countries said such weapons shipments sharply increased the human toll of Russia's war in Ukraine.
Any weapons trade with North Korea would be a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions that Russia, a permanent UN Security Council member, previously endorsed.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia in September to meet President Vladimir Putin and visit key military facilities.
The trip sparked rumours of a possible arms deal.
The US and its allies accused North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to modernise its nuclear weapons and missiles in return for its shipments of conventional arms.
The NIS has assessed that North Korea has been operating its munitions factories at full capacity to meet Russian munition demands and has also been ramping up production.
The NIS said North Korea is also likely receiving Russian technological assistance over its plan to launch its first military spy satellite into space.
North Korea's two recent attempts to launch a spy satellite ended in failure due to technical issues.
South Korea's military said North Korea also seeks to receive nuclear-related technologies, fighter jets or related aircraft equipment and assistance on the establishment of anti-air defense networks from Russia.
North Korea is currently focusing on enlarging its nuclear arsenal while refusing to return to talks with the US and South Korea.
The country's economy is reeling from major setbacks from lockdowns imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
