North Korea reaps significant wins from aiding Russia in Ukraine war — Ukraine's spy chief

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, stated this in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to him, the North Korean army is gaining combat experience it hasn't had since the 1950s and is also improving its weaponry.

"The most interesting fact I suggest you focus on is the use of North Korean ballistic missiles of the KN-23 type. In the beginning, their use showed a lack of accuracy, with deviations of one and a half kilometers or more. Russian specialists worked with their experts at factories, reworked and upgraded them – and now these missiles hit the target," said the head of the intelligence.

"Next, the North Koreans learned what drones are, something they had never seen before. Now all of this will go [to North Korea], and the army will begin re-equipping and retraining. It's clear that a new threat will emerge for the Pacific region because it's one thing when they were just shooting toward the Sea of Japan, and everyone, as they say, got nervous. But let's be honest, everyone understood that the accuracy wasn’t there, the quality was dubious, and no one knew how it would work. This is just one very small aspect," Budanov added.

He noted that Ukraine's has intensified cooperation and information exchange with South Korean intelligence due to North Korea's involvement in the war against Ukraine.

"We slightly intensified cooperation with South Korea when the arrival of North Korean troops to Russian territory began. Yes, that's obvious. We happily share data with them regarding the activities of the North Koreans, and we have received some information from them as well," said Budanov.

The head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate believes that the military partnership with North Korea is humiliating for Russia as a country that aspires to world leadership.

"North Korea's involvement, in principle, is a humiliating fact for the Russian Federation as a country that claims to be almost on the verge of world leadership or at least the second most powerful army in the world. It's humiliating, but the reality is that they had to resort to this," Budanov concluded.