North Korea Earned Around $20 Billion from Military Support to Russia

North Korea has transferred ammunition, weapons, and other military aid to Russia worth tens of billions of dollars, but in return, it may have received more than just money.

The South Korean Institute for Defense Analyses prepared a report analyzing the military support, with NK News publishing the details.

The majority of the profits — approximately $19.2 billion — come from the supply of ammunition. This includes 122mm and 152mm artillery shells, rockets for multiple launch rocket systems, Bulsae-4 anti-tank guided missiles, and KN-23 ballistic missiles.

According to estimates of the South Korean Institute for Defense Analyses, since August 2023, Pyongyang has sent around 21,000 containers filled with weapons and ammunition to Russia, mostly via maritime routes. A smaller portion of the shipments may have been delivered by rail or air.

North Korea also received approximately $630 million through technology transfers and $280 million for the deployment of around 11,000 military personnel, most of whom fought in the Kursk region.

Russia paid a monthly salary of $2,000 for each North Korean soldier, along with a one-time bonus. The North Korean government initially withholds a portion of these payments and later transfers the remainder to its soldiers.

In exchange for its support, North Korea is believed to prefer barter deals over cash payments. These exchanges likely include advanced military technologies related to nuclear-powered submarines and fourth-generation fighter jets.

The rapid development of high-precision weaponry and strike drones, as well as the emergence of North Korea’s first airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft, may indicate technological support from Russia.

“Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea increases the likelihood of Russian involvement in the Korean peninsula’s tense situation and helps sustain the Kim regime during periods of regional instability,” Park Yong-han, a senior research fellow at the South Korean Institute for Defense Analyses and author of the report, noted.

Deliveries of North Korean Weapons

Recently, the British analytical center Open Source Centre (OSC) released its own research on the maritime transit of North Korean weapons to Russia over the past 20 months, tracking the movement of nearly 16,000 containers filled with ammunition.

The container ship voyages between the two countries were counted using satellite imagery, and the number of containers in the cargo holds was determined through 3D modeling of the ships based on official schematics.

OSC analysts gathered available images and other data, analyzed the loading patterns of standard shipping containers, and then estimated the capacity of each vessel by taking precise measurements.

According to estimates, each shipping container carrying ammunition could hold between 315 to 330 boxes of 122mm artillery shells or 224 boxes of 152mm artillery shells. Additionally, each container could carry 160 boxes of 122mm rockets for multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) or 275 boxes of 120mm mortar rounds.

Due to the varying sizes of boxes for each type of munition, it is not possible to calculate their exact quantities this way. However, OSC provided a conservative estimate ranging from 4 to 6 million artillery shells. These figures align with data from the Defense Intelligence, which reported that Russia had received 4 million artillery shells since mid-2023, more than three-quarters of which were 122mm and 152mm shells. The intelligence agency also reported the delivery of mortar ammunition, though it was not included in the provided figures.