US concerned with North Korea getting rare chance to test its weaponry in combat in Ukraine

Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles. Stock photo: Defence Security Asia

Moscow’s use of North Korean missiles in its attacks on Ukraine gives Pyongyang a unique chance to put its weapons to the test in combat and learn lessons that could improve their effectiveness.

Source: Bloomberg, citing US General Charles Flynn, Commander of the US Pacific Army, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Russian strikes on Ukraine provide North Korea with valuable information on technical issues, procedures and the munitions themselves.

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“I don’t believe that in my recent memory that the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine,” General Charles Flynn said during a visit to the large US Army garrison at Humphreys, roughly 80 kilometres south of Seoul.

The general stressed that the US will monitor the situation closely.

Flynn explained that a huge concern for him and others is that North Korea could learn something about its weapons that it would not have had access to in the absence of a war such as the one in Ukraine.

North Korea has been accused of providing Russia with advanced nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that are easily concealable, swiftly deployable, and challenging to intercept.

Images provided to Bloomberg by the US indicate that the missiles in question are Hwasong-11s, a broad class of short-range ballistic missiles that can strike targets reliably with high accuracy.

They have a range of 380 to 800 kilometres and extend the range of weapons that Russian leader Vladimir Putin can employ against Ukraine.

Background:

• Russia stepped up cooperation with North Korea after the former’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Pyongyang is known to have handed over artillery shells and ballistic missiles to Moscow, which have been used to strike Ukrainian cities.
• The United States has indicated that the nature of the security threat posed by North Korea could change “drastically” in the next decade as a result of its cooperation with Russia.

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