From Past to Present: North Korean Arms Exports

North Korea has a lengthy history of providing arms and expertise around the world as a reliable means of raising cash. Experts say this trend is on the rise.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a weapons factory in the country. Image Source

Russia's latest purchase of vast quantities of North Korean munitions thrust the hermit kingdom's arms exports into the global spotlight, with North Korean deputy leader Kim Yo Jang – sister of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un – recently dismissing allegations. However, North Korea's history of arms exports and military assistance spans decades and has raised vast sums of cash for the isolated regime, often via illicit means.

North Korea's Emergence as A Weapons Exporter

During the Cold War, North Korea actively exported weapons to various countries and movements aligned with the Soviet Bloc or those engaged in anti-colonial struggles. During the Vietnam War, North Korea provided North Vietnam with extensive military assistance, including weapons, training, and knowledge of underground tunnel construction from their own wartime experience. According to a declassified CIA document, North Korea exported small arms, artillery systems, anti-aircraft systems, tanks, rockets, mines, patrol boats, logistics vehicles, and more to at least 23 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Latin America between 1975 and 1984. They also sent technical specialists, tactical contingents, and advisory groups and helped partner countries develop arms production facilities.

North Korea maintains longstanding arms export ties to the Middle East. In the 1960s, Pyongyang provided weapons to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and exported arms to Syria and later Iran in the 1970s and 1980s. Through Iran, North Korea also provides weapons to Hezbollah and Hamas. Between 2003 and 2004, North Korean agents provided Hezbollah with the technical assistance needed to construct massive fortified underground facilities, including arms depots, food storage, medical clinics, and more that were instrumental in the group's survival during the 2006 Israeli invasion. When Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, North Korea provided the group with weapons and training as well as technical assistance in constructing its extensive tunnel network. In 2007, an Israeli strike on a Syrian nuclear reactor allegedly killed 10 North Korean nuclear scientists; the reactor site was reportedly similar to other North Korean nuclear reactor sites.

North Korea's weapons exports help the cash-strapped regime raise the funds it needs to sustain itself in a post-Cold War reality. Although North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, it maintains one of the largest militaries in terms of active duty personnel as well as nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The regime needs vast sums of cash that it must raise despite extensive international sanctions to finance these programs. Pyongyang maintains an active diplomatic network in nearly 50 countries, and these diplomatic missions are often allegedly involved in illicit trades, such as facilitating smuggling, money laundering, and arms transfers. Although the exact amount North Korea raises from arms transfers is unknown, its recent sales to Russia could generate $1 billion for the regime, making weapons exports an essential component of its struggling economy.

North Korea's Kim Il Sung and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh, in 1958. Image Source

North Korean weapon sales destinations. Image Source

The North Korean Arms Trade Today

North Korea continues to export arms in vast quantities despite considerable sanctions on the country. Over the past decade, North Korea has further aligned itself with anti-Western regimes, with Russia, Syria, and Iran being the most significant direct recipients of its weapons and weapons-related technologies. Relations between North Korea and Iran further deepened in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal.

Iran and North Korea collaborate extensively on missile technology, with North Korea providing much of the original technology and components behind Iran's now extensive missile arsenal. For example, Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile is based on the North Korean Nodong-1, which is adapted from the Soviet scud missile. In turn, North Korea has since benefitted from Iranian expertise regarding the development of its long-range missile and satellite programs. Reports also indicate that North Korea recently helped Iran develop an underground airbase that could "seriously obstruct Western air attacks." In Syria, North Korea continues to assist the embattled Assad regime, including providing it with ballistic missiles and related technology. North Korea has also allegedly been involved in Syria's chemical weapons programs.

North Korea continues to provide arms, training, and more to Hamas and Hezbollah. South Korea claims that Hamas used North Korean-made rocket launchers during its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. In Lebanon, Hezbollah's tunnel networks – developed with North Korean assistance – allow the group to store and move ballistic missiles and other weapons virtually undetected. North Korean forces fought alongside Hezbollah during the Syrian civil war, and Pyongyang has played an instrumental role in developing the group's security and intelligence apparatuses.

Russia's increased demand for weapons and munitions – the result of its ongoing war in Ukraine – has made it one of the largest markets for North Korean exports. Reports from South Korea claim that North Korea has exported millions of artillery shells to Russia since last September in exchange for food, raw materials, machine components used in weapons factories, and other necessities. Images released last October confirm Russia's use of North Korean artillery shells on the battlefield in Ukraine. Other reports indicate that Russia uses sophisticated North Korean short-range ballistic missiles against Ukrainian cities and that Pyongyang may also be sending anti-tank missiles, portable surface-to-air missiles, rifles, rocket launchers, and more. Meanwhile, Russia is considering sending arms to North Korea in defiance of sanctions after South Korea stated that it would supply weapons to Ukraine.

Over the past decade, North Korea has exported smaller shipments to Fiji, Niger, Egypt, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador, Myanmar, and others. 

The remnants of the suspected North Korean Hwasong-11A missile fired by Russia in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in January 2024. Image Source

Hamas fighters with a suspected North Korean-made rocket. Image Source

Conclusion

North Korea's active push to provide arms has allowed it to cultivate relationships and gain foreign exchange earnings and resources. These exports are likely a significant source of income for the regime, which utilizes the revenue to fund military programs and possibly other sectors of its economy. With North Korea ramping up its arms sales to Russia, Iran, and Syria over the past year, these weapons pose a serious and growing risk to global security as these countries remain embroiled in significant conflicts directly and indirectly. Moreover, the revenue from these sales helps bolster North Korea's own military programs as the regime takes an increasingly aggressive regional stance. Because the regime excels at providing these exports through illicit and shadowy means, its vast arms proliferation will likely continue to have a destabilizing impact on global security moving forward.