Washington: On Wednesday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said that the United States has some data that indicates North Korea is covertly providing Russia with a large number of artillery shells for its war in Ukraine.
Kirby told a virtual briefing that North Korea was trying to obscure the shipments by channeling them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa. “We indicate that the DPRK is covertly supplying, and we are going to monitor to see whether the shipments are received,” Kirby said, adding that Washington would consult with the United Nations on accountability issues over the shipments.
“It is not an insignificant number of shells, but we don’t believe they are in such a quantity that they would change the momentum of the war,” he said.
“And it’s certainly not going to change our calculus … or with so many of our allies and partners about the kinds of capabilities we’re going to continue to provide the Ukrainians.”
North Korea said in September it had never provided any kind of weapons or ammunition to Russia and has no plans to do as such while warning the United States to keep its mouth shut and stop spreading rumors aimed at tarnishing the country’s image. Alluding to North Korean missile launches on Wednesday, Kirby said they did not represent an immediate threat to U.S. personnel in the area and added that the United States would make sure it could defend its allies there.
North Korea fired at least 23 missiles into the sea on Wednesday, including one that landed less than 60 km (40 miles) off South Korea’s seacoast area, which the South’s President Yoon Suk-yeol described as territorial encroachment.
It was the first time a ballistic missile had landed near the South’s sea waters since the landmass was divided in 1945, and most missiles were terminated by the North in a single day. South Korea issued rare air attack warnings and launched its missiles in response.
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