North Korea has rejected claims by the United States that it is secretly sending weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, saying it had never sold weapons to Moscow and had no plans to do so. Tuesday’s statement to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) comes after White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said last week that the US had information indicating that North Korea was supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells. He said North Korea was trying to hide the shipments by routing them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa and that Washington was monitoring to see if the shipments were received. A North Korean defense ministry official called the claims “rumours” and said Pyongyang “has never had ‘arms transactions’ with Russia” and had “no plans to do so in the future”. “We consider such moves by the US as part of its hostile attempt to tarnish the DPRK’s image on the international stage by citing the illegal (UN Security Council) ‘sanctions resolution’ against the DPRK,” the official said in a statement carried by KCNA , referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name. The rebuke comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula after North Korea conducted a series of weapons tests last week, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), as the US and South Korea held their largest-ever military exercise. The US and South Korea have warned that North Korea may be preparing for its first nuclear test since 2017. Kirby said the U.S. believes the “significant” number of shells Pyongyang is sending is enough to help Russia prolong the eight-month war, but not enough to give it an advantage over Ukrainian forces, which are supplying by the US and NATO allies. In September, Pyongyang denied a claim in declassified US intelligence documents that North Korea planned to sell missiles and rockets to Moscow and help the country replenish depleted stockpiles. Any arms assistance would be a further sign of deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang as Russia’s isolation over the war in Ukraine has increased. North Korea was one of the only countries in the world to recognize the two pro-Russian breakaway territories — the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) — in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. She also expressed her support for Russia’s declared annexation of other parts of the country. “North Korea is clearly using the Ukraine war to tighten its relationship with Russia,” said Victor Cha of the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Kirby said the missions were “a sign of Russia’s own deficiencies and needs in defense equipment,” as the country faces international sanctions that have limited its ability to rebuild its military. The US is monitoring the missions and interception could be an option given that Russia has veto power at the UN Security Council and can block any measures there, CSIS’s Cha added. “To avoid any military conflicts, US authorities could coordinate with willing countries to freeze the cargo at customs to prevent it from reaching the battlefield,” he said.
