South Korean Defence Minister Exposes Illicit Russia-North Korea Arms Trade

South Korean defence minister Shin Won-sik revealed that weapons used by Russia in Ukraine were illegally imported from North Korea. He warned that military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is heightening tensions on the Korean Peninsula and affecting European battlefields. Shin also urged China to play a more active role in denuclearization.

South Korean defence minister Shin Won-sik said on Saturday that more evidence suggests weapons used by Russia in the war in Ukraine were illegally imported from North Korea.

"Military cooperation between Russia and North Korea" is escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and "also affecting the battlefield in Europe", Shin said. If North Korea continues to receive military technology transfers from Russia in return, a significant improvement in North Korea's conventional military capability is an imminent risk, Shin said.

10,000 containers Shin also called for China to take a more active role on denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.

On questions about whether South Korea may seek nuclear weapons of its own, Shin said that South Korea trusts the global nonproliferation treaty (NPT) regime, and that a stronger U.S.-South Korean alliance is the answer to North Korea's nuclear development. Shin was speaking during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's biggest defence forum, under way in Singapore. The event ends on June 2.