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John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, gives a press briefing on Jan. 4 in which he says that Russia launched a ballistic missile provided by North Korea into Ukraine. (AP/Yonhap)

The White House said that North Korea has not only supplied Russia with artillery shells, but also recently provided ballistic missiles that Moscow has used twice while attacking Ukraine.
 
“Our information indicates that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles,” said John Kirby, the White House National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, in a press briefing on Thursday.

This comes after the White House’s announcement in October that North Korea had sent more than a thousand containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine. Washington said that North Korea had been sending weapons to Russia before and after the summit between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin in September, and such support has recently developed into the provision of not only artillery shells, but also ballistic missiles.
 
Kirby called the development a “significant and concerning escalation” in North Korea’s support for Russia.
 
Kirby revealed that one of the ballistic missiles that North Korea provided to Russia was launched from southern Russia and landed in an open field in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where battles are taking place, on Dec. 30.
 
He explained that the impact of the additional missiles that were launched from the same location on Saturday is still being assessed. Kirby provided a map of the region to further explain the situation. While he provided explicit details, such as how the North Korean missile had a range of 880 kilometers, he did not reveal the source of the intelligence.
 
In regard to North Korea’s military arms support to Russia, Kirby stated, “In return for its support, we assess that Pyongyang is seeking military assistance from Russia, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies.”
 
He added that they expect that Russia will demand more missiles from North Korea and that discussions between Russia and Iran related to the provision of short-range ballistic missiles are underway.
 
“We will not allow countries to aid Russia’s war machine in secret,” Kirby said during the press briefing. He stated that Russia’s deal with North Korea regarding weapons is a direct violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and went on to state that the US will raise these arms deals at the UN Security Council and prepare to impose additional sanctions.
 
Recently, Russia has been increasing the level of its air and missile attacks on Ukraine. On Dec. 29, it launched its largest airstrikes on several Ukrainian cities since the war began. On Tuesday, Russia launched several missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, injuring over 100 people.
 
During the 2023 North Korea-Russia summit held at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in September, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stated, “We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership [. . .] and we will be together in the fight against imperialism,” emphasizing an openness to providing weapons to Russia.
 
At the time, Putin also announced that he would support North Korea’s attempts to build satellites, signaling a strengthening of bilateral ties and mutual support.
 
The White House seems to have released detailed intelligence in order to curb North Korea-Russia arms trades and to warn against any third parties from providing further aid to Russia.
 
As the US has run out of military aid funds for Ukraine and the White House’s supplemental funding request to Congress is meeting difficulties due to opposition from the Republican Party, this revelation seems to be an attempt to coax Congress into approving the budget as soon as possible.

By Lee Bon-young, Washington correspondent

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