What Ukraine needs to fight against North Korea's 170mm M-1989 Koksan howitzers received by Russian army

Photos on social media indicate that the Russian forces are already transporting 170mm M-1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery systems from the DPRK by rail. But it is currently unknown to what extent Russia can receive these artillery systems from the North Korea, Defense Express reports.

Amid this, the question arises as to how these North Korean artillery systems can be countered, what weapons Ukraine has for this purpose, and what type of weapons will be needed as part of military assistance to Ukraine.

To begin with, let's briefly recall the basic characteristics of the M-1989 Koksan: range — up to 40 kilometers with a conventional projectile and up to 60 kilometers with an active-reactive projectile, rate of fire — two shots per five minutes; the amount of ammunition carried remains unknown.

In order to fight against the North Korean Koksan, Ukrainian army requires weapons systems with characteristics that are higher than those of these self-propelled guns.

Accordingly, to counter the M-1989 Koksan, the M270 MLRS and M142 HIMARS systems, which can fire GLMRS guided missiles at a range of up to 84 kilometers, can theoretically be used as a counter-battery tool. And also the 2S7 Pion, PzH 2000 and Krab gun systems, which can fire at a range of up to 40 kilometres.

However, this arsenal at the disposal of the Ukrainian Defense Forces may be insufficient both in terms of quality (for example, there is currently no data on whether the Russian forces will receive 170 mm active-reactive shells for the Koksan self-propelled artillery system) and quantity (since there is no data on how many artillery systems of this type the Russian army can receive from the DPRK).

Amid this, it is therefore vital to obtain K239 Chunmoo missile systems from South Korea, which were designed, among other things, as a counter-battery tool against North Korean artillery.

Moreover, a possible ‘run-in’ of the K239 Chunmoo on the battlefield in Ukraine against DPRK artillery systems would help to improve the reputation of these missile systems, and therefore may well be beneficial for South Korea itself.