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- North Korea is using Ukraine as a "test site" for nuclear-capable missiles, according to South Korea.
- South Korea's UN ambassador said that Russia used these missiles on December 30, and January 2 and 4.
- It has a "significant implication on global nuclear non-proliferation," Joonkook Hwang said.
North Korea is using Ukraine as a test site for its nuclear-capable missiles, South Korea's ambassador to the UN said in a statement on Thursday.
Joonkook Hwang "strongly" condemned North Korea's exports of such missiles and Russia's use of them in attacks on December 30, January 2, and January 4, he said.
He pointed to Russia's use of KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, which North Korea tested in 2018 and 2019. These missiles can strike targets as far away as 690 kilometers, or about 428 miles, according to the nonprofit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance.
Hwang also warned that North Korea's exports of these missiles pose an "existential threat" to South Korea, and that the UN Council's silence up to this point has only served to embolden North Korea's leadership.
North Korea has been testing a wide range of ballistic and cruise missiles since 2017, ramping up launches to 68 missiles in 2022, according to the North Korea Missile Test Tracker of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
Russia is now benefiting from North Korea's missile expertise and is using it in its war of aggression against Ukraine, Hwang said.
He also said that "the introduction of North Korean missiles into the war in Ukraine has a significant implication on global nuclear non-proliferation."
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby commented on the missiles' use last Thursday, saying that Russia had acquired "several dozen" ballistic missiles from North Korea and used them in two separate attacks on December 30 and January 2.
Experts from the Institute for the Study of War think tank said that Russia is likely looking to North Korea because it has a type of missile that Ukraine struggles to intercept.
The ISW cited an attack on December 29, where Ukraine said it intercepted 149 of the 166 cruise missiles Russia fired — about 90% — but only a "handful" of the ballistic missiles.
Ballistic missiles "appear to be more effective at penetrating or avoiding Ukrainian air defenses" than the cruise missiles Russia has used so far, the ISW concluded.
The Washington DC-based think tank added that Russia is also likely looking to Iran when it comes to buying ballistic missiles.