- North Korea agreed to sell weapons to Russia, which has since used Korean ballistic missiles to bomb Ukraine
- The United Nations has warned that North Korea may seek military help from nuclear-armed Russia in response
A group of lawmakers is sounding the alarm at the State Department over arms transfers between North Korea and Russia.
The letter, led by Republican Reps. Young Kim, Calif., Tom Kean, NJ, Joe Wilson, SC, and Nathaniel Moran, Texas, asks the Biden administration for answers on whether North Korea’s arms sales to Russia could mean Moscow assisting Pyongyang in its search for nuclear and advanced ballistic weapons.
It comes after the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) agreed to sell weapons to Russia, which has since used Korean ballistic missiles to bomb Ukraine. The DPRK has also since offered ammunition and artillery shells.
The United Nations has warned that North Korea may seek military help from nuclear-armed Russia in response. Russia has been part of the UN National Security Council’s imposition of an arms embargo on Pyongyang since 2006 over the missile test, but is now violating the embargo.
North Korea recently tested nuclear-capable strategic cruise missiles and advanced ballistic missiles that could endanger U.S. military bases in the region. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Russia’s far east, and Russian officials have visited Pyongyang several times.
North Korea has supplied Russia with weapons that it is using to bomb Ukraine
According to Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin, Russia has fired at least 24 ballistic missiles of North Korean origin into Ukraine since late December.
North Korea recently tested nuclear-capable strategic cruise missiles and advanced ballistic missiles that could endanger U.S. military bases in the region. In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Russia’s far east, and Russian officials have visited Pyongyang several times.
The letter asked the State Department to reveal whether it was “concerned” that Russia would supply advanced ballistic missile and cruise missile technology to the DPRK, or whether they were aware that Russia was already doing so.
The lawmakers requested a briefing on the issue and a written response to their questions by March 1.
Russian dissident Alexei Navalny died in Russian prison, reports said Friday. It comes after Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner earlier this week revealed an urgent national security threat that was later confirmed to be linked to Russian anti-satellite capabilities.
A US intelligence official told the New York Times that the US is unable to defend its satellites against such a Russian nuclear-capable weapon.
It was also asked:
“Is your ministry aware of Russian plans or past activities to provide technology, materials, design data, and/or technical know-how to advance the DPRK nuclear weapons program? What actions is the State Department taking to block Russian trafficking of advanced weapons in the DPRK? Is your department engaging with allies and partners with a shared interest in the non-proliferation of this technology on these concerns?”
The House of Representatives is now engaged in a contentious debate over how and whether to proceed with aid to Ukraine. After House Speaker Mike Johnson declared a $95 billion foreign aid package “dead on arrival,” a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Friday released their own $66 billion defense-only aid package with border security provisions.
Meanwhile, Moscow has already shown how it can be deadly from space by testing a hit-to-kill anti-satellite missile in 2021.
Russia blew up one of its own satellites with a missile in 2021. Cosmos 1408, a defunct spy satellite launched in 1982, was the destroyed target, resulting in a field of 1,500 pieces of debris that endangered the ISS crew
Russia smashed a defunct spy satellite launched in 1982 into 1,500 pieces of rubble in the attack, sparking outrage around the world.
In 2020, Moscow fired an anti-satellite weapon from its Cosmos 2543 satellite while in orbit.
Vladimir Putin has also threatened the West with his deadliest hypersonic missile yet, which could race into space and hit multiple targets on the ground.
The nuclear-capable Avangard missile, which can reportedly hit targets at 27 times the speed of sound, is seen in new footage installed in an underground launch silo in Russia’s Orenburg region.
According to Moscow, the rocket, traveling at 20,000 miles per hour and using a hypersonic glide vehicle, will be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere in less than 30 minutes before hitting any target in the world.