North Korea Punching Above Its Weight in Russia-Ukraine War

In Trump-led armistice talks, the Hermit Kingdom may want a seat at the table.

Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and the Russian defense minister, Andrei Belousov, at Pyongyang, North Korea, November 29, 2024. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

To achieve peace in Ukraine, the incoming Trump administration will have to turn off Russia’s most active ally — North Korea. Last year, after watching Russia falter in Europe’s largest war since World War II, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, jumped at the chance to earn combat experience for his military and hard currency for his vast military stocks.

Russia this year has relied on North Korea for half of its artillery shells fired in Ukraine. After three years of war, Russia has lost almost half of its 2,000 tracked howitzers, largely due to gun barrel fatigue. Recently, though, videos have shown dozens of North Korean-made M1989 howitzers rumbling across Russia on rail cars. Designed to shell Seoul, these guns fire 170-millimeter shells, a caliber only produced in North Korea. This means Russia will rely even more on North Korea for ammunition.

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