HOW NORTH KOREA IS BENEFITING FROM THE WAR IN UKRAINE

Since the start of the war there has been a convergence of interests between Russia and North Korea. Put simply, Moscow has an acute need for munitions and Pyongyang is a willing supplier.

- JOHN DOBSON

History is replete with unintended consequences. When President Vladimir Putin ordered the illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, few would have foreseen any benefit to the dictator living in Pyongyang. Even the all-knowing Supreme Leader Kim JongUn himself, the “Respected Father” of North Korea, would most probably not have seen any value at the time. Now, a desperate Putin has suddenly become Kim’s best friend, and as a result North Korea’s calamitously failing economy is beginning to see an upturn.

Since the start of the war there has been a convergence of interests between Russia and North Korea. Put simply, Moscow has an acute need for munitions and Pyongyang is a willing supplier. Satellite imagery has shown a plethora of cargo ships loaded with hundreds of containers at a time scuttling back and forth between the North Korean port of Ragin and the nearby Russian military port of Vostochny. The South Korean government recently reported that it had evidence of North Korea sending 6,700 containers of munitions to Russia and that Pyongyang’s weapons factories were operating at full-tilt.