North Korea likely to produce drones with Russian support this year: report

TAIPEI, Taiwan – North Korea is set to produce multiple types of drones this year in collaboration with Russia, media reported, as Moscow agreed to provide technical support to Pyongyang in exchange for its military assistance in fighting Ukraine.

The two countries have reached an agreement under which Russia will provide technical assistance to North Korea for the development and mass production of various types of drones, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported, citing multiple unidentified sources.

The agreement was in return for North Korea’s deployment of soldiers to aid Russia in its war against Ukraine, the broadcaster added.

As many as 12,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia to fight Ukrainian forces who occupied parts of Russia’s Kursk region in August, according to Ukraine and the United States, although neither North Korea nor Russia has acknowledged their presence.

In November, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wanted his country to begin mass production of “suicide” drones.

Kim “underscored the need to build a serial production system as early as possible and go into full-scale mass production,” state media reported at that time.

‘Testbed for military capabilities’

Russia may be providing drone and missile technology to North Korea in exchange for North Korean troops fighting in Kursk, said the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, think tank, adding that the North was using the war in Ukraine as a testing ground for its own military capabilities.

Citing a Reuters report that North Korean ballistic missiles fired by Russian forces since December 2024 demonstrated significantly improved accuracy, the ISW said such an enhancement was gained through the North Korea-Russia alliance.

The ISW’s assessment was echoed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who said on Saturday that Russia was deliberately transferring “modern technology” to North Korea, including drone technology.

But Japan’s NHK cited its sources as saying that Russia was reluctant to provide support for North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons.

The sources said Russia was worried that factors such as a North Korean nuclear test would complicate Russia’s relations with the United States as well as neighboring countries, including China.

North Korea has been suspected of sending weapons to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine. South Korea said in October that the North had sent about 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia over the previous two months, bringing the total number of containers to 20,000.

‘Return to the front line’

Zelenskyy said North Korean forces had returned to the front line in Kursk, after reports they were withdrawn last month due to heavy casualties.

In a video address on Friday, Zelenskyy said the Russian army had “brought back in North Korean soldiers” who were carrying out “new assaults” in the region partially occupied by Ukraine.

“Hundreds of Russian and North Korean military” personnel had been “destroyed,” according to him.

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Citing Ukrainian intelligence, the Ukrainian leader added that Russian forces are establishing new military units, expanding facilities in the military industrial base, planning to increase troop numbers by more than 100,000 soldiers and strengthening military ties with North Korea.

“We now know – as our intelligence reports – that the Russians are creating new divisions and developing new military production facilities. It is clear that their cooperation with North Korea will be expanding,” he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura” reported that Russian and North Korean forces “changed” their tactics, now relying primarily on infantry assaults rather than the previous use of armored vehicles.

“Many infantry groups launched attacks from multiple directions at once. The assault began at midnight and lasted over 16 hours,” it said.

“They fought across fields and open areas. The enemy attackers were also brought in on ATVs [all-terrain vehicles] and unloaded into narrow landings where the enemy hid under the trees,” the brigade said.

Edited by Mike Firn.