Mick Hartley

From the Daily NK:

North Korean cadres are saying that their country’s lavish reception of a Russian delegation during a recent military parade to celebrate DPRK’s “victory” in the Korean War was aimed at obtaining Moscow’s technical cooperation in nuclear weapons development, Daily NK has learned.

During the military parade on July 27, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood side-by-side with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the podium at Kim Il Sung Square. On July 26, Kim also provided the Russian defense minister with explanations of the new weapons on display at Weapons and Equipment Exhibition 2023.

In fact, many North Korean cadres believe Pyongyang wants more from Russia than simple gifts of wheat or oil, including technology transfers or cooperation that can help in the development and operation of nuclear weapons, a source inside North Korea told Daily NK last Thursday. 

“No place has developed undersea drones like Russia,” he said, adding: “This is why [North Korea] unveiled the ‘Haeil’ unmanned underwater nuclear attack craft.”

Korea Central TV, which live broadcasted the recent celebratory military parade, described the Haeil as an “important, super-powerful absolute weapon of the Republic’s nuclear combat forces that will sink the heinous invasion ships all at once with a tidal wave of vengeance.”

However, the Haeil appears to require more technological advancement before it can be deployed in the field.

“We need technology to miniaturize the warheads attached to delivery vehicles already deployed in the field,” the source said.

While North Korea has deployed ICBMs such as the Hwasong-17 and Hwasong-18 to the country’s Strategic Force, the country does not appear to have acquired miniaturized warheads.

Based on the source’s account, that Kim Jong Un took time to talk to the Russian defense minister about the country’s strategic weapons was aimed at showing that, after receiving Russian technical help in the initial stages of nuclear development, the DPRK has made considerable progress in its independent development of nuclear weapons despite international sanctions….

Most North Korean cadres are aware that the DPRK has been providing Russia with ammunition, grenades, artillery shells and other conventional weapons since last year, receiving wheat, natural gas, oil and other forms of assistance in return.

A Daily NK interview with a high-ranking North Korean official last December confirmed that the DPRK is providing conventional weapons to Russia in return for oil and gas.

“We will sell arms to Russia this time around, too,” another Daily NK source in North Korea claimed. “Because the interlocutor [at the recent meeting] was the [Russian] defense minister, we likely asked for technical cooperation for nuclear weapons rather than economic aid.”

The Financial Times (FT) reported on July 29 that it observed the Ukrainian military attacking Russia with North Korean-made rockets that are presumed to have been taken from Russia.

Interestingly, this comes at a time when North Korea's relations with China are rumoured to be cooling off. An increasingly demented and aggressive Russia might well seem to be a better fit for North Korea than a China which now seems, by contrast, almost responsible.