Russia improves ballistic missiles with Pyongyang, establishes production of kamikaze drones – Budanov
North Korea continues to supply Russia with weapons, and the Russian Federation is helping Pyongyang to establish, in particular, the production of kamikaze drones, according Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense.
In an exclusive interview with ezine The War Zone, Budanov said that Moscow is providing Pyongyang with advanced military technologies that could change the balance of power on the peninsula.
According to him, Moscow and Pyongyang have just agreed to begin "creating facilities for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Harpy and Geran [the Russian version of the Iranian Shahed-136 drones] on the territory of North Korea."
"This will certainly lead to changes in the military balance in the region between North and South Korea," Budanov noted.
He also spoke about the transfer of technologies between the countries.
"One example is the technology for producing unmanned aerial vehicles. Another technological solution is, as I have already told you, the KN-23 ballistic missiles. Initially, when they were first transferred to Russia, they flew with a deviation of several kilometers, but now they hit the target with precision. This is the result of joint work between Russian and North Korean specialists. Modernization of aircraft weapons is also underway - long-range air-to-air missiles. Specific technologies on submarines. Unfortunately, ballistic missiles that carry nuclear payloads," Budanov said.
"Let's say they had huge problems with the carriers of these missiles and firing from their naval component. And the Russians are helping them with this. And a great demonstration of this for everyone is, as I mentioned earlier, this famous KN-23 ballistic missile. The KN-23 missiles, which were delivered at the very beginning, are now a completely different missile in terms of their technical characteristics. Accuracy has been increased many times," the head of the GUR noted.
North Korea also provides Russia with other weapons, "the range ... is quite wide, starting from 122mm D-74 howitzers and 107mm MLRS infantry systems to 240mm MLRS and 170mm M1989 self-propelled artillery guns."
Pyongyang, according to Budanov, has already transferred 120 Koksan self-propelled 170mm guns to Russia.
"But I think that these supplies will continue, because these guns are showing themselves quite well. This is a shame for us, because this is artillery for long-range shooting," Budanov said.
According to the GUR, there are currently about 11,000 North Korean military personnel in Russia’s Kursk region. In addition, there are agreements on "the beginning of work of so-called labor migrants on the territory of Russia in order to partially replace labor migrants from Central Asia," adding that there is a high probability that people among these labor migrants will begin to sign contracts with Russia’s defense ministry.
"And these will not be soldiers from North Korea. These will be Russian soldiers, but of North Korean nationality," Budanov said.