February 14, 2025: The North Korean army, or Choson inmin gun, has benefited greatly from its participation in the Ukraine War. As a longtime ally of Russia, North Korea responded to calls from Russia to supply weapons, munitions and eventually troops for the Ukraine operation. North Korean support began in 2022 when North Korea supplied Russia with badly needed 152mm shells. North Korea sought to acquire priceless combat experience, test weapons systems, gain access to Russian military technologies, and secure Moscow’s further assistance in countering economic sanctions.

North Korea currently has one of the world’s largest armies with around 1.3 million active-duty soldiers. North Korea has not been directly involved in any major wars for over 70 years. Lack of battlefield experience is a source of considerable concern for North Korea anxious to counter South Korea’s more technologically advanced military. Now North Korean soldiers are learning the realities of modern drone warfare first-hand. That included learning how to shoot down drones. These North Korean soldiers were young, motivated, disciplined, physically fit, brave, and good at using small arms. Russia pays North Korea $2000 per soldier each month.

For North Korea the real prize was access to advanced Russian military technology. North Korea received support in increasing its anti-aircraft, submarine, and missile capabilities. Ukraine was a valuable testing ground for North Korea to assess the effectiveness of the weapons it supplied to Russia. Now North Korea can improve the quality of its own domestic arms industry and adapt future output to the realities of the modern battlefield. Troops who survive their time on the Ukrainian front lines are expected to return home and become instructors, sharing their knowledge of modern warfare with colleagues. At this point, North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine War looks to be less about supporting Russia's imperial ambitions and more about upgrading the North Korean military.

In the short term, the presence of North Korean soldiers allowed Russia to overcome growing manpower shortages. At the time Russia was losing tens of thousands of troops each month. For the first time in decades, the North Korean army is gaining real military experience and that makes North Korea more capable of waging war against South Korea or Japan.

In 2023 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled on his armored train into Russia to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and discuss trade issues related to the Ukraine War. Russia needed more munitions, as in artillery shells and unguided artillery rockets. North Korea could also supply rifle and machine-gun ammunition but Putin was most interested in the artillery munitions, which Russian troops did not have enough of in Ukraine and Russia could not produce enough to meet the demand.

In return North Korea wanted technology related to advanced nuclear weapons. Russia was able to send more food, but the nuclear tech was another matter. North Korea uses its primitive nuclear weapons to threaten South Korea and Japan. North Korea is militarily belligerent but has relatively primitive military capabilities compared to South Korea, Japan and the United States.

China has long refused to supply North Korea with this kind of tech because of fears that North Korea would use it carelessly and recklessly. China disapproves of Russia providing this tech to North Korea. As a major economic trading partner with Russia, Putin cannot ignore the Chinese concerns. In the long term Russia needs China more than North Korea, but in the short term Russia needs more artillery ammunition, which North Korea will supply but China won’t.

Russia also needed replacements for artillery systems lost since early 2022. This included 5,300 mortars and howitzers as well as 729 MLRS rocket systems. Russia still had reserves of artillery weapons and was refurbishing them as quickly as it could. Munitions for these weapons is another matter. The 122mm and 152mm howitzers are firing so many shells, a few thousand each, that some of them have worn out their barrels and need replacement barrels. North Korea had a lot of artillery compatible with Russian models but money shortages delayed needed refurbishments of these guns and access to refurbishment services is something North Korea will trade artillery munitions for. Russia can provide more food as well as assistance with refurbing North Korea’s elderly howitzers.

What Russia needs most is artillery munitions. Quantities were limited by how much Russia could transport over the Trans-Siberian rail line. The trip from North Korea to southern Russia takes about 10 days. Sending the munitions by sea was too risky, because of energetic NATO sanctions enforcement and the long distances the ships would have to travel, especially because these ammo vessels won’t be allowed to use the Panama or Suez canals. The trip involved leaving from a Russian or North Korean Pacific Coast port and traveling around southern Africa or South America to reach a Russian port in northwest Russia. Yet another problem is the Ukrainian effort to damage portions of the Trans-Siberian rail line. In 2023 there were at least six acts of sabotage, mainly signal or rail switching equipment. There was much more of this in 2022 and that forced Russia to increase security in areas where the Ukrainian or pro-Ukraine Russian saboteurs were operating. There were millions of ethnic Ukrainians living in Russia, far too many for Russia to monitor. There were also many pro-Ukraine Russians who were against the war and some were willing to act. Ukraine has a growing network of informants and operatives in Russia, something the Russian government would rather not discuss.

In late 2023 Poland announced a joint Polish-South Korean military exercise in Poland. This took place 60 kilometers from Russian territory and showcased the $13.7 billion worth of South Korean weapons ordered by Poland. This included a thousand South Korea K2 tanks, most of which were being produced in Poland under license. The 55-ton K2 is similar to the American M1 but without annoying American export controls. K2 has a 120mm gun that can also fire guided missiles as well as extensive electronic systems and an autoloader. That means the crew size is three. South Korean troops began receiving the K2 in 2014 and currently have 250 of them. Ten were sent to Poland in late 2021 for evaluation. The Poles were impressed and, after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Poland increased its order from 180 to a thousand, with 180 still built in South Korea and the rest in Poland. By the end of the decade Poland will have the largest tank force of any European NATO member and superior in quality, if not quantity, to anything Russia has.

The K2 does not use any American tech and that means South Korea can freely export the K2 to anyone. The K2 weighs 55 tons and outclasses anything Russia, North Korea, Japan or China has. The K1 outclassed North Korean tanks but the K2 is better protected and more capable. The K2 has a number of new electronic defenses. It will have a laser detector that will instantly tell the crew the direction the enemy laser beam is coming from. Most tanks use a laser rangefinder before it fires its main gun. The K2 fire control system also enables the main 120mm gun to be used to hit low flying aircraft and helicopters. There are also numerous improvements to the K1 mechanical and electronic systems, as well as more composite and ERA armor. This made the K2 easier to use and maintain. An autoloader reduced the crew to three men. South Korean engineers are assisting Poland in setting up the K2 production facility.