North Korea Is Trading Old Ammo And Tanks For Russian Nuke And Space Tech

ANALYSIS – While most media are focused on the old weapons and ammunition North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is set to provide an increasingly desperate Vladimir Putin, few are asking what Kim will get in return.

Moscow might offer grain, oil and hard currency as payment. But Russia's payback to Kim may include space and nuclear technology for the North's growing, but at times stumbling, satellite and ballistic missile programs.

Not to mention its sub-launched nukes, which I recently wrote about.

While Pyongyang and Moscow have denied U.S. accusations of arms transfers, North Korea sits on some of the largest stockpiles of Soviet-era artillery and unguided rockets that could be used in Russia's war machine in Ukraine.

“It says a lot that Russia is having to turn to a country like North Korea to seek to bolster its defense capacity in a war that it expected be over in a week,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan was reported as telling news agencies.

“It would be a ‘win-win' deal for both, as Putin is cornered over his exhausted weapons inventory while Kim faces pressure from the South Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral cooperation,” Nam Sung-wook, a former director of the South Korean think tank Institute for National Security Strategy, was quoted as saying.

“Their needs are matched perfectly now.” (RELATED: With US Help, Japan Gearing Up For War With China, Russia, North Korea)

Russia is apparently looking to acquire millions of old artillery shells and rockets from North Korea to replenish its dwindling stockpiles amid Moscow's ongoing war of aggression.

Specifically, Russia needs 122mm and 152mm artillery shells, as well as 120mm mortar rounds. Moscow has already fired over 12 million shells against targets in Ukraine, but in 2022, Russian factories only produced 2.5 million shells.

North Korea's ammunition is likely of lower quality, but Moscow appears desperate. The Kremlin may also get spare parts for its old T-54 and T-62 tanks from Pyongyang's ample stocks. Russia has been throwing these old tanks increasingly into its Ukraine fight.

North Korea's leader may also provide Putin with old anti-tank and surface-to-air missiles and even Gulf War fame Scud rockets and launchers.

All of these weapons are far from modern, but in a grinding war of attrition, numbers provide their own quality. (RELATED: Understanding Ukraine's Increasing Ability To Strike Deep Inside Russia With Drones And Missiles)

Kim Jong Un is expected to cross into Russia this week for his first trip outside the peninsula in four years for talks with President Vladimir Putin. In fact, South Korean news agencies report that Kim is already headed north in his luxury high-security armored train.

The meeting is expected to take place in Vladivostok since Putin is currently there for an international forum. The U.S. has said the meeting would focus on supplying munitions to Moscow, but others are more worried about what Kim will get in return.

As Time reported:

Experts are concerned that Russia could share advanced nuclear, submarine, and missile technologies with North Korea in exchange for the artillery.

“This [meeting] is a very significant development if it goes forward,” Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, told CNN. “Russia has the military technology that Kim wants for his illegal satellite launch and nuclear weapons delivery programs.”

And this could make two regions increasingly unsafe, reported the Financial Times.

Victor Cha and Ellen Kim at CSIS, a Washington-based think-tank, wrote: “Russia-North Korea cooperation may extend beyond conventional arms deals and food/energy assistance, possibly to advanced technology for satellites, nuclear-power submarines and ballistic missiles.”

Cha and Kim added: “A Russia-North Korea axis complicates the security picture both in Ukraine and on the Korean peninsula.” 

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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