North Korea is expanding a weapons-manufacturing complex that assembles short-range missiles that are being used by Russia in the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Researchers at a U.S.-based think tank concluded the missile factory has been expanded based on satellite imagery. Newsweek has reached out to North Korea's mission to the United Nations via email outside of normal working hours for comment.
The facility, which is known as the February 11 plant, is a part of the Ryongsong Machine Complex in Hamhung, North Korea. A research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) told Reuters that the plant was the only one known to produce the Hwasong-11 class of solid fuel ballistic missiles.
The satellite imagery was taken in early October by the firm Planet Labs. Analysis by researchers at CNS, cited by Reuters, said that the imagery shows an additional assembly building under construction, a well as a new housing facility.
Moscow and Pyongyang have both previously denied that North Korea has transferred weapons for Russia to use in its war on Ukraine, though Russia has not denied the involvement of North Korean troops in the war, which it has been fighting against Ukraine since it launched a full-scale offensive into the country in February of 2022.
According to Reuters, the Hamhung plant assembles KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, and Ukrainian officials have said that these North Korean missiles have been used by Russia in the conflict.
South Korea's national security adviser has said that Russia has provided North Korea with air defense missiles and military equipment, in exchange for sending thousands of troops over to fight in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Shin Won-sik revealed this during in a broadcast on SBS TV on November 22. Won-sik said that Russia has supplied North Korea with advanced military technologies to enhance the regime's defense capabilities, particularly near the capital, Pyongyang.
This news follows reports out of the U.S., South Korea and Ukraine that more than 10,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia in October. It has been reported that some are now actively engaged in combat on the frontline.
Mutual Defense Treaty
Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defense treaty in June of this year, and both countries have pledged to boost their military ties.
North Korean troops have been deployed to the Russian frontline, a Ukrainian official said on Friday November 22. Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation, wrote on Telegram on Friday that some North Korean troops have moved into the Belgorod region. The Belgorod Oblast is located south of the Kursk Oblast and is directly across from the Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh on November 18 told reporters that it is likely that roughly 11,000 North Korean troops have entered Russia's Kursk region.
New assessments from the Institute of War (ISW) have said that Moscow's troops "recently advanced," in the area of Kursk, which is currently controlled by Ukrainian soldiers. Kyiv launched an incursion into Kursk in early August, and Russia has since struggled to counter Ukraine's biggest advance into Russian territory since the beginning of the conflict.
The U.S. has said it expects North Korean reinforcements to head for frontline clashes soon.
Newsweek reached out to the Kremlin via email for comment.
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