North Korea has shipped some 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia for its war against Ukraine since July, South Korea's defense minister said Monday.
Historic allies Russia and North Korea are both subject to global sanctions, Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons testing.
Their leaders, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, held a summit in the Russian Far East in September, following which the United States claimed that Pyongyang had begun supplying weapons to Moscow.
"The number of containers coming from the North to Russia has increased by 300 to around 7,000 containers in total so far," South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said during the a press briefing on Monday.
This figure refers to materials sent since July and Shin Won-sik said that "with some sea routes now suspended, some have been sent by rail to Russia."
The United States claimed last October that weapons deliveries from Pyongyang to Moscow were underway, estimating that North Korea had delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia at the time. .
“Priority number one”
The following month, Seoul accused Pyongyang of sending more than a million artillery shells to Russia, with North Korea appearing in return to receive technical advice from Moscow on its plan to launch a satellite. military recognition.
During his visit to Russia in September, Kim Jong Un said bilateral ties with Moscow were his country's "number one priority" and Pyongyang became a staunch defender of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
According to Washington and experts, Pyongyang seeks to obtain military support in return, particularly in satellite technology and the modernization of its military equipment which dates from the Soviet era.
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North Korean state media said Monday that Kim Jong Un sent a message congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election by a record 87.29 percent of the vote, forged in a crackdown on the opposition.
“I will firmly join hands with yours and bring the friendship between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia into a new era,” the message said.