North Korean missiles with Western tech fuel Russia's Ukraine assault
Ukraine is contending with a wave of Russian missile attacks. CNN reports that one-third of these strikes involve North Korean missiles featuring Western components.
7:52 AM EST, November 24, 2024
According to CNN, one-third of these attacks are based on KN-23 missiles, which can operate thanks to Western components, despite existing sanctions.
In 2024, Russia launched about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine, accounting for nearly one-third of the 194 ballistic missiles used this year.
The key components of these missiles are sourced from nine Western manufacturers, including those in the USA, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Some parts of the KN-23 missiles analyzed by experts were manufactured in 2023, indicating rapid delivery of components to North Korea, CNN notes.
“Everything that works to guide the missile, to make it fly, is all foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it," said Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory at the Kiev Research and Forensic Examination Institute, to CNN. “The only thing Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes," he added.
How do components get to North Korea?
A report published earlier this year by the British investigative organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR) showed that 75% of the components in one of the early missiles originated from the USA.
Experts suggest that components reach North Korea through China.
“We have successfully traced some of those components, and the last known custodians are Chinese companies,” said Damien Spleeters from CAR.
