North Korea sends 6,700 containers of arms to Russia

North Korea has sent about 6,700 containers of munitions to Russia.

At a briefing on Monday for local media, South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said the containers might carry more than 3 million 152 mm artillery shells, or 500,000 122 mm rounds.

The arms were sent since July to support its war against Ukraine, in a sign of ongoing arms transfers.

“It could possibly be a mix of the two, and you can say that at least several million shells have been sent,” Shin said, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Hundreds of North Korean munitions factories are running at around 30% of their capacity due to a lack of raw materials and electricity, but those producing artillery shells for Russia were operating ‘at full swing,’ he added, without elaborating on the source of the information.

Seoul and Washington have accused Pyongyang and Moscow of trading arms and condemned the North for supplying weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine. Both countries have denied it even as they pledged to strengthen military cooperation.