North Korean ballistic missiles have been striking targets in Ukraine with increasing accuracy in recent weeks compared to over the past year — suggesting the Hermit Kingdom is successfully using the battlefield as a testing ground for its new tech.
More than 20 missiles fired by Russian forces since December are now hitting within 160 to 330 feet of their targets, marking a significant improvement since the first North Korean weapon was fired at Ukraine in Dec. 2023, two senior Ukrainian sources told Reuters.
Previously, the missiles had an accuracy of about 3,100 to 15,800 feet.
It’s not clear what changes North Korea had made to the latest batch of missiles, however, Yang Uk, a weapons expert at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, believes they are getting integral feedback from Russians using them on the front lines.
“As they are making missiles and getting feedback from the customers — the Russian army — then they have more experience making more reliable missiles,” he said.
Military sources told Reuters that forensic analysis hasn’t revealed any design changes in the missiles, but noted there hasn’t been much debris left behind to analyze.
The missiles may have been fitted with improved navigation systems or with a steering mechanism, one source speculated.
Yang said other factors contributing to the weapons’ new capabilities could be Russian intelligence having better information about targets, a new guidance system and the experience North Korean scientists have gathered in the war.
The missile improvements could threaten the regime’s hostile neighbors South Korea and Japan and possibly destabilize any region where North Korea decides to deploy them to enemies of the United States, Yang warned.
Russia began firing North Korean K-23, K-23A and K-24 short-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine towards the end of 2023 and has since fired around 100, the source said.
Meanwhile, Moscow has also received millions of artillery shells from Pyongyang and thousands of troops.
About 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed, wounded or captured fighting Ukrainian troops in Russia — with little gains to show for it — due to language and cultural barriers as well as lack of battlefield experience.
The losses account for about a third of North Korea’s 11,000-member deployment to Russia’s Kursk region, which began in October, according to estimates from Ukrainian officials.
Undeterred, North Korea’s military said last month it plans to deploy more troops to the region.
With Post wires