North Korea supplied Russia with 12 million rounds of 152mm shells, South Korean intelligence estimates
Over 12 million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells are estimated to have been sent to Russia by North Korea for use in Ukraine, South Korean military intelligence reported on July 13.
The figure was published by South Korean news agency Yonhap, citing a report by the South Korean Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) submitted to a lawmaker of the main opposition party.
The report estimated that North Korea could have provided around 28,000 containers containing weapons and artillery shells to date.
"If calculated with 152 mm single shells, the number of supplied shells is presumed to have reached more than 12 million," the DIA's statement read, as cited by Yonhap.
The report comes a day after the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to "unconditionally" support Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on July 12.
With Russia's own domestic shell production not enough to keep up with its high rate of fire on the battlefield, Moscow turned to the isolated nation for major injection of ammunition, with the two countries signing a defense treaty in June 2024.
Over 2024, the majority of artillery shells used by Russian forces in Ukraine were manufactured in North Korea, according to a joint investigation by Reuters and the Open Source Centre (OSС), published on April 15.
Pyongyang has also sent over 100 of its ballistic missiles to Russia, which are frequently used in strikes against Ukrainian cities.
In a significant escalation, North Korea sent around 13,000 troops to Russia since October of last year, primarily to help retake Ukrainian-occupied territory in Kursk Oblast.
An additional 25,000-30,000 soldiers from North Korea are being prepared to join Russian forces, CNN reported on July 2.
