How the Ukraine War Is Aiding North Korea’s Illicit-Arms Business

That Russia, a United Nations Security Council permanent member, has used North Korean missiles with apparent success sends some very clear messages to potential customers who may have been on the fence about conducting arms business with the Kim regime, said Darya Dolzikova, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank. One such message is that Russia remains unlikely to interdict any such transactions shipped through its borders or greenlight punishment at the U.N. for buyers, she said. The other is that the North Korean missile systems may be more reliable than previously believed.