Friends with (strategic) benefits Troops and missiles for oil and bears: What Russia gets from North Korea, and what Pyongyang receives in return
Since reports surfaced of North Korea supplying shells and missiles to Moscow, questions have lingered about what Pyongyang hoped to gain in return. In October, those questions only intensified when North Korean soldiers were spotted training in Russia’s Far East, just months after Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un signed a mutual defense pact. Now, satellite images analyzed by the Open Source Centre suggest part of the answer: North Korea has been receiving large shipments of oil from Russia, in violation of international sanctions. South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik added another piece to the puzzle on Friday, stating that Russia had also sent anti-aircraft missiles and air defense systems to North Korea. And, as if that weren’t enough, Moscow has reportedly gifted Pyongyang a pair of bears for its zoo (along with some yaks). Here’s what we know so far about this growing partnership.
Axis of opportunism
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea for the first time in over two decades. During the trip, he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement pledging cooperation across multiple sectors, along with mutual military and non-military support in the event of an attack on either country. The agreement rekindled fears in the West of a potential anti-Western alliance, with some experts speculating that Putin might use any Ukrainian counterattack on Russian-held territory as a pretext to invoke the pact and request North Korean military support.
North Korea’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine isn’t new. Reports of weapons shipments surfaced as early as September 2022, when declassified U.S. intelligence revealed that Moscow had purchased millions of artillery shells and rockets from Pyongyang. Since then, American and South Korean intelligence have regularly tracked these deliveries.
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Among the most powerful weapons reportedly acquired from North Korea is the Hwasong-11 ballistic missile, which resembles Russia’s Iskander-M but boasts a longer range. However, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have complained about the poor quality of these weapons, citing issues like inconsistent gunpowder levels and poor accuracy. Despite these flaws, the sheer volume of munitions could still be a boon to Russia’s military efforts. And when it comes to sheer quantity, North Korea has been delivering.
As the war drags on, Pyongyang’s material support for Russia has only intensified. Satellite imagery from October 2023, analyzed by Beyond Parallel, revealed an “unprecedented number” of freight cars — at least 73 — at North Korea’s Tumangang Rail Facility near the Russian border. By February, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik estimated that North Korea had sent around 6,700 containers to Russia, likely filled with artillery shells. In mid-June, just days before Putin visited Pyongyang, Shin reported that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 containers of munitions — enough to hold up to 4.8 million artillery shells.
In October, however, months after Putin and Kim Jong Un signed the mutual defense pact, reports emerged that North Korea was not only supplying weapons but also sending troops to Russia. Initially, experts like Fyodor Tertitskiy, a lecturer at Korea University and North Korea politics expert, expressed skepticism. He told Meduza that such a move would be “extraordinarily out of character” for a regime known for its extreme isolation and reluctance to send citizens abroad.
But on October 23, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the reports, revealing that North Korean soldiers — by some accounts elite special forces — had been sent to Russia. After training in the country’s Far East, they were deployed to the Kursk region to support Russia’s efforts to repel Ukrainian forces. By November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Ukrainian troops had already encountered North Korean soldiers in combat.
What’s in it for Kim?
The steady stream of military aid from Pyongyang to Moscow raises questions about what North Korea is receiving in return. Back in an October conversation with Meduza, Fyodor Tertitskiy suggested that North Korea is likely seeking advanced technology as part of its deal with Russia. Indeed, on November 22, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik stated that Russia had sent anti-aircraft missiles and air defense systems to North Korea in exchange for troops.
In addition to military aid, North Korea is receiving another critical resource it desperately needs — oil. U.N. sanctions cap its annual imports of refined petroleum at 500,000 barrels, far below what the country requires. Yet, satellite imagery analyzed by the U.K.-based Open Source Centre reveals that North Korea has imported over one million barrels of oil from Russia since March, far exceeding the U.N. limit. The report, published on November 22, found that North Korean tankers made 43 trips to a port in Russia’s Far East during this period, turning off their trackers. Analysts estimate the tankers were filled to 90 percent capacity.
“If the ships were any fuller they would sink,” Joe Byrne, one of the researchers, told the BBC. “While Kim Jong Un is providing Vladimir Putin with a lifeline to continue his war, Russia is quietly providing North Korea with a lifeline of its own,” he said.
Perhaps less a matter of life and death for North Korea, however, are bears. On November 21, citing Russian state media, The New York Times reported that Moscow was sending two bears, two yaks, and a lion, along with an assortment of other fauna, to the Pyongyang Central Zoo as a “gift to the Korean people.” Over 70 animals are reportedly in quarantine, adjusting to their new environment.
