Russia May Soon Share Space Tech With North Korea: Blinken

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Oblast of the Far East region of Russia on Sept. 13, 2023. KCNA via Reuters

Russia may soon begin transferring advanced space and satellite technology to North Korea, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his visit to South Korea on Jan. 6.

Speaking alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul at a media event in Seoul on Jan. 6, Blinken expressed concerns about a growing military partnership between the Russian Federation and North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

U.S. and South Korean officials previously expressed concerns about such a military partnership amid claims that North Korea sent thousands of troops to support Russian forces in the ongoing war with Ukraine.

Blinken said that more than 1,000 North Korean troops had been wounded or killed in the last week of December 2024 alone, as Moscow attempted to expel Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region of Russia.

“Now, this is a two-way street. The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training,” Blinken said. “Now, we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang.”

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang have directly confirmed the presence of North Korean troops on the Kursk battlefield.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met together in Pyongyang in June 2024 and announced a new strategic partnership between their two nations.

Speaking in Seoul on Jan. 6, Blinken said Moscow may soon move to formally recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, reversing a decades-long policy.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which opened for signature in the late 1960s and came into force in 1970, aims to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.

The United States, the UK, France, China, and Russia are classified as nuclear-armed states under the treaty. India, Pakistan, Israel, and South Sudan are the only countries that have never joined the NPT.

North Korea joined in 1985 as a non-nuclear-weapon state but withdrew from it in 2003.

Several countries, including North Korea, are believed to have developed nuclear weapons in the decades since the NPT took effect.

The Arms Control Association, which monitors nuclear weapons proliferation around the world, estimates that Pyongyang has since developed about 50 nuclear warheads.

If Russia were to formally recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state, it would be largely symbolic, given that North Korea already has nuclear weapons.

Shortly before Blinken delivered his remarks, South Korea’s military reported that North Korea had conducted a new ballistic missile test, launching the weapon into the waters north of Japan.

Blinken condemned the new missile launch during his Jan. 6 remarks. He said President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration tried to engage with North Korea to stabilize relations, but to no avail.

“We’ve done it privately; we’ve done it publicly. And the only response effectively we’ve gotten has been more and more provocative actions, including missile launches,” Blinken said.

Blinken is visiting South Korea and Japan as part of what will likely be his last international tour as part of the Biden administration.

The secretary of state will also visit France and Italy in the coming days.