The North Korean missile that Russia used against Ukraine that contained US and European components

On January 4th, the intelligence of U.S He reported that Russia was using ballistic missiles launched by North Korea in some of his attacks against Ukraine. This Tuesday it was confirmed that the aforementioned North Korean war material contains components from American and European companies, despite the numerous sanctions imposed on the regime. Kim Jong Un so you can’t access western technology.

White House Spokesperson John Kirbyhad pointed out that Russia fired at least one North Korean ballistic missile at Ukraine on December 30, 2023, while on January 2 of this year it launched “multiple” ballistic missiles in Kharkiv.

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Kirby then considered that the launch of the missiles delivered by North Koreawith an approximate range of 900 kilometers, represented a “significant” and “worrying” increase in the support that Kim Jong Un can Russia.

A prosecutor’s expert inspects the remains of a missile used during an attack on Kharkiv on January 2, 2024. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP). (SÉRGIE BOBOK/)

In exchange for these missiles, North Korea would be seeking military assistance from Russia, including aircraft, armored vehicles and other advanced technologies, according to Kirby.

Several destroyed fragments of weapons used in Ukraine were collected for later analysis.

The British research organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR) directly examined 290 components from North Korean ballistic missile wreckage recovered in January Kharkiv and discovered that 75% of components were designed and sold by companies incorporated in the United Statesaccording to the report shared with the CNN news network.

Another 16% of the components found in the missile were linked to companies incorporated in Europeaccording to the researchers, and 9% for companies incorporated in Asia.

In this photo taken on January 6, 2024, a prosecutor’s expert inspects the remains of a missile used during an attack on Kharkiv on January 2. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK/AFP). (SÉRGIE BOBOK/)

These components were mainly part of the missile navigation system and up to 26 companies based in the United States, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland and Taiwan could be tracked, according to the report cited by CNN.

“Half of the documented components had identifiable date codesand more than 75% of these codes indicated production between 2021 and 2023. Based on these production dates, CAR concludes that the missile recovered in Kharkiv “It could not have been assembled before March 2023”, indicated CAR.

The tail of the ballistic missile examined by the Conflict Armament Research group, which includes the missile’s navigation system, and the countries of origin of the components. (Conflict Weapons Research/CNN).

CAR said that the missile that its researchers analyzed was recovered in Kharkiv on January 2, 2024.

About North Korea numerous sanctions and controls weigh on the part of U.S and its allies to prevent you from accessing Western manufacturing technology.

Furthermore, since 2006 the United Nations Security Council banned the production of ballistic missiles on the part of North Korea.

At this point, it is worth asking how the country of Kim Jon-un had access to the parts.

CNN highlighted that the discovery is the first public identification of drug addiction. North Korea of foreign technology for its missile program and highlights the persistent problem facing the president’s administration Joe Biden in its attempt to prevent cheap microelectronics of Western manufacturing intended for civilian use ends up in weapons used by North Korea, Iran and Russia.

Furthermore, as CNN notes, at the end of 2022 the Government of Biden created a broad working group to investigate how American and Western components, including the American-made microelectronicsthey were ending in Drones made in Iran that Russia has launched in Ukraine.

Last year, CAR determined that 82% of Iranian-made attack drone components fired by Russia in Ukraine were manufactured by American companies.

In its latest report, CAR does not name the companies that manufactured the components that ended up in the missiles. North Koreabecause there is no evidence that they deliberately sent the parts to that country, according to CNN.

North Korea’s missiles. (AFP).

A CAR spokesperson told CNN that components were likely diverted somewhere in the vast global supply chain since the companies sold them to several international distributors.

Other relevant information that emerges from the CAR research shows that North Korea managed to manufacture the missile and send it to Russia quickly.

The components the researchers examined were manufactured between 2021 and 2023. Based on these production dates, the researchers say the missile “could not have been assembled before March 2023” and was being used by Russia in Ukraine in January this year.

The results indicate that North Korea “has developed a strong purchasing network capable of escaping, undetected, the sanctions regimes in force for almost two decades”, states the CAR report.

In conclusion, CNN maintains that the fact that missile production North Korea seems to acquire parts from West, highlights how difficult it is for U.S and his allies control the destiny of the commercial electronic productsin particular the semiconductor componentswhich are extremely difficult to track once they enter the global supply chain.

He also mentions the paradox which means that Russia receive weapons North Korea and Iran, while the government of Biden was unable to send new weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian army because the United States Congress blocked its more than $60 billion initiative.

Source: Elcomercio