North Korean Missiles Are Full of Western Components

Since the end of the Korean War, the world has been talking about North Korea’s threats. However, the truth of the matter is that for decades North Korea has not been involved in any active armed conflict, but has been developing weapons. Sadly, Russia has been attacking Ukraine with weapons obtained from North Korea and we are now learning to what extent they are working.

North Korean missiles used by Russian forces against Ukraine are highly damaging and difficult to shoot down. Image credit: via National Police of Ukraine Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Russia is not as powerful as it thought, so it now relies on North Korean weapons to continue attacking Ukrainian cities. One such North Korean weapon is being used against Ukrainian cities. KN-23 – Tactical ballistic missile with approximately 500 kg warhead. Not much was known about the KN-23 before, but now experts can learn a lot by studying its wreckage off Ukraine.

of Great Britain Checked by Conflict Armament Research (CAR). 290 pieces of North Korean ballistic missile debris were found in the Kharkiv region in January this year. The researchers were mostly interested in the weapon’s electronics and their origins.

As it turns out, as much as 75 percent of the ingredients investigated were of American origin, and another 16 percent can be traced to companies registered in Europe. The remaining 9% of investigated components were from Asian companies. These components essentially make up the missile’s navigation system, which was assembled in North Korea.

KN-23 ballistic missile. Example from open sources

Another interesting fact was that at least one of the North Korean ballistic missiles used in Russia’s war against Ukraine could not be assembled before March 2023. In other words, it is brand new. Of course, the fact that these missiles are new doesn’t mean anything in itself.

In fact, in a way, it makes perfect sense since the KN-23 was designed in 2018 and entered service recently. This shows that North Korea’s missile industry is alive and well. This should not be taken to mean that North Korea has no stockpiles and is therefore delivering new missiles straight off the assembly lines – it may be cheaper to ship them from factories.

The KN-23 is a ground-launched tactical ballistic missile with a range of 450-600 km. It uses an inertial navigation system, although some experts believe it is also capable of some level of satellite navigation. The missile is said to have an accuracy of 35 meters, which would be impressive indeed. It is commonly compared to the Russian Iskander-M, but it is certainly not a complete copy.

How does North Korea get Western components for its missiles? Of course he smuggles them through other countries. Kim Jong-un has Western cars and other luxury goods from Europe and the US – importing small electronic parts doesn’t seem that difficult either.

written by Povelas M.

Source: Storymaps.arcgis.com, Wikipedia