Seoul: North Korean artillery shells provided to Russia in support of Moscow’s war in Ukraine appear to be “poor” in quality, failing to hit targets and exploding at the wrong time, a report citing a Ukrainian military official showed Tuesday. The report came amid growing concerns over deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which has expanded from arms transactions to the deployment of troops confirmed by multiple nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Ukraine’s Kharkiv Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Yevhenii Romanov stated that 60 percent of the 122 millimeter and 152 millimeter artillery ammunition that Russian forces are firing in the Kharkiv direction is from North Korea. Romanov highlighted that the North Korean shells are of poor quality and do not hit their targets or explode at the right time.
South Korean experts have raised the possibility that North Korea is sending obsolete shells that have been stored for decades. Rep.
Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party noted that North Korea has stockpiled a large amount of artillery shells for war, suggesting that the quality issues may stem from the North providing shells that date back to the 1970s.
The South Korean defense ministry earlier estimated that North Korea had shipped approximately 20,000 containers to Russia as of September, which is enough to carry around 9.4 million 152 mm artillery shells when fully stocked. Additionally, the defense ministry indicated that North Korea appears to be operating some 200 munitions factories at full capacity to produce weapons for Russia.