Canada and other countries have condemned North Korea’s export of missiles to Russia’s forces for use against Ukraine in recent weeks.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) export and Russia’s procurement of DPRK ballistic missiles, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles against Ukraine on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024,” a joint statement issued Tuesday evening reads.
“The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression and undermines the global non-proliferation regime. Russia’s use of DPRK ballistic missiles in Ukraine also provides valuable technical and military insights to the DPRK. We are deeply concerned about the security implications that this cooperation has in Europe, on the Korean Peninsula, across the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world.”
The statement says the governments, which include the U.S., U.K., Germany, New Zealand and Australia, are resolutely opposed to the arms transfers, and that it flagrantly violates multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, including ones Russia itself supported.
The governments say they are closely monitoring what Russia provides North Korea in return for the weapon exports, and call on the two to immediately stop all activities that violate the UN resolutions.
U.S. intelligence officials believe that North Korea, in return for its arms support, wants Russia to provide it with aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment and other advanced technologies.
U.S. intelligence officials first flagged the use of North Korean missiles on Thursday. At least one of the missiles was used Dec. 30, 2023 and landed in an open field in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
Then multiple North Korean missiles were used on Jan. 2 as part of an overnight attack on Ukraine, according to Kirby.