The United States revealed on Monday that North Korea has shipped at least 10,000 containers of arms to Russia to support its war in Ukraine. This number exceeds the 7,000 containers estimated by South Korea’s defense minister earlier in the day.
Park Chung-ting, the senior U.S. official responsible for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, told VOA on Monday that there have been at least ten incidents of North Korean missile use on the battlefield in Ukraine.
She expressed deep concern about the growing ties between Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and North Korea.
Earlier on Monday, North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into the sea for the first time in two months as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul to attend a democracy summit hosted by South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol.
Despite these “unfortunate” and “troubling” developments, Parker told VOA that the United States still assesses that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un does not currently plan to launch an immediate attack on Washington’s allies South Korea and Japan.
The following content has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Voice of America: North Korea launched several ballistic missiles as South Korea hosted a democracy summit and days after the United States and South Korea ended military exercises. Do you still think that North Korea will not immediately launch a direct attack on Japan and South Korea?
Jung Pak, senior U.S. official in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: I still. North Korea has been conducting ballistic missile launches: 69 in 2022 and dozens last year. This is their latest collection. Unfortunately, they did so while the Secretary of State was attending a democracy summit in Seoul.
We continue to assess that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not thinking about an imminent or recent attack. I think Kim Jong Un probably knows what that might mean in response. But we are very concerned about the level of activity, weapons advancements and growing alliance with Russia over the past few years.
Voice of America: Just to clarify, is the United States not seeing signs that North Korea is planning some form of lethal military action against South Korea in the coming months?
Park: We are always alert to any hazardous activities. But I would also say that these ballistic missile tests, various cruise missile tests, and the hostile rhetoric coming out of North Korea are very concerning to us. Regardless, we will continue to work hard to find ways to engage North Korea because diplomacy is the only way we can achieve lasting peace on the peninsula and discuss denuclearization.
Voice of America: Also on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his re-election. Meanwhile, South Korea’s defense minister said North Korea has provided 7,000 containers filled with ammunition to Russia. Can you talk about closer ties between Moscow and Pyongyang?
Park: It is a very worrying development that a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council joins other members of the international community in openly flouting the Security Council resolutions to which it is a signatory and engaging in arms transfers. We know that at least 10,000 containers were shipped from North Korea to Russia. North Korea doesn’t do this for free. North Korea almost certainly wants something in return. We worry about what might happen to the other side.
We are also concerned about what North Korea may learn from Russia’s use of these weapons and ballistic missiles on the battlefield and how this may encourage and/or help North Korea further advance its weapons programs. So, this is a very dangerous moment.
Voice of America: Has the United States seen new evidence that more ballistic missiles supplied to Russia by North Korea since 2024 have been fired at targets in Ukraine?
Park: Yes, it certainly worries us because North Korea has a known proliferator that sells weapons to Russia and is able to conduct illegal and brutal attacks on Ukraine, killing Ukrainian people, destroying Ukrainian infrastructure, destroying lives. So we’re very worried about that.
North Korean missiles have been used on the battlefield at least 10 times. So we’re absolutely concerned about what this means for future proliferation and how this can exacerbate the situation.
Voice of America: Is the United States seeing more evidence that Russia has agreed to and is helping North Korea with nuclear missiles?
Park: We think North Korea may be pursuing ballistic missile technology, or other advanced technology, or surface-to-air missiles, or armored vehicles. We note a significant increase in exchanges at the military, leadership, economic and cultural levels. Therefore, it is obvious that the relationship between the two parties is getting closer.
Voice of America: You have said that interim measures must be taken to achieve ultimate denuclearization. Can you elaborate? Is it official U.S. government policy to take “temporary measures” to denuclearize North Korea?
Park: Our policy has been the same since we launched our policy review in the spring of 2021, which is that we absolutely seek the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, our goals have not wavered at all.
When we talk about “interim steps,” we are making clear what has always been implicit: complete denuclearization will not happen overnight. As a result, we can have valuable discussions with North Korea about the possibility of reducing military risks and engage in other substantive discussions as we work toward complete denuclearization.
Voice of America: Doesn’t this deviate from the pursuit of complete denuclearization?
Park: This is not leaving. As I mentioned, this is not something that happens overnight. Substantive discussions must take place.
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