SEOUL — Russia
has provided North Korea with its air defence system, electronic warfare
jamming devices and other military support since late last year, in blatant
violations of UN sanctions amid their deepening ties, an international
monitoring report released by Seoul's Foreign Ministry showed on Thursday.
Since November 2024, Moscow has transferred at least one
Pantsir mobile air defence system and one Pantsir-class combat vehicle to
Pyongyang, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) said in its first
report on the sanctions enforcement.
The MSMT was established in October last year with the
initiative of South Korea and the United States as an alternative framework to
the UN Panel of Experts on North Korean sanctions monitoring.
The panel was disbanded in March of the same year due to
Russia's veto. Besides South Korea and the US, nine other countries have joined
the mechanism -- Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
Netherlands, and New Zealand.
The inaugural report, specifically focusing on the illegal
military cooperation between Russia and the North, is the MSMT's first
assessment on the sanctions enforcement since its launch.
The findings were based on the intelligence and other
information provided by the participating countries and data from private
research institutes.
The Pantsir missile system is made up of self-propelled,
medium-range surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery systems. A
South Korean lawmaker has recently mentioned the weapons systems unveiled on
the North's new Choe Hyon destroyer as bearing a marked resemblance to the
Russian Pantsir system.
The report also found that North Korea has supplied Russia
with more than 20,000 containers worth of military supplies since September
2023.
The shipments include approximately 9 million rounds of
artillery and multiple rocket launcher ammunition, more than 100 ballistic
missiles and over 200 heavy artillery pieces, as well as anti-tank guided
missiles and rockets, Yonhap news agency reported.
These transfers make up enough supplies to equip three full
brigades, the report said.
Russian transport aircraft were used for the arms transfers
between November and December 2023. They include three IL-76 and three AN-124
military planes belonging to the Russian Transport Aviation Command, the report
said.
Russia has also provided the North with missile performance
data and technical support to enhance Pyongyang's missile guidance
capabilities, in a clear violation of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions
against Pyongyang, which Russia itself voted for as a permanent UNSC member.
The report stated that North Korea sent over 11,000 troops
to Russia in 2024, with an additional 3,000 soldiers dispatched recently. Those
soldiers were trained by the Russian military on artillery drone
countermeasures and basic infantry operations.
The report said that the two countries have engaged in
high-level exchanges between top military officials, suggesting the deepening
ties following the signing of a bilateral defence treaty between Russian
President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their June
summit last year.
Russia provided the North with more than 1 million barrels
of fuel between March and October last year, the report said. The UNSC
sanctions cap North Korea's annual imports of refined petroleum at 500,000
barrels.
About 8,000 North Korean workers have been sent to Russia to
work in construction, IT and other sectors, also a breach of the sanctions
banning the hiring of North Koreans overseas.
The report also found that financial transactions between
the two countries are being made through North Korea-owned ruble-denominated
bank accounts set up in South Ossetia, a Russia-backed autonomous state in
Georgia.
The report is a "product of our efforts to address the
monitoring gap arising from the disbandment" of the UN panel, a joint
statement released by the foreign ministry read.
"We underscore once again our shared determination to
fully implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions ... and continue our
efforts to monitor the implementation," the statement said.
