North Korea's potential provision of weapons to Russia's war effort in Ukraine could bolster Moscow's long-term arms procurement and provide Pyongyang with key imports and a chance to balance ties with Russia against China. On Aug. 30, U.S. National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby announced the United States had intelligence that North Korea and Russia were in high-level discussions for the former to sell weapons to the latter for its war in Ukraine. Kirby added that these negotiations may continue for months and could include North Korea providing Russia with multiple types of artillery ammunition and raw materials. This comes after North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jung-Un in mid-August urged his top officials to expand the country's weapons production capacity after touring munitions factories. In Ukraine, the Russian army is in need of greater supplies of artillery (of all kinds) to credibly threaten future offensives and mobilization measures....
