Ukrainian Group: "Possible Russia-North Korea Drone Factory in North Korea"

Information Revealed at Online Conference Presentation

"North Korea Could Become a Global Drone Manufacturer"

A Ukrainian civil society organization has claimed that Russia and North Korea are discussing the construction of a drone manufacturing plant in North Korea.

According to a report by Yonhap News on July 27, Nataliya Gumenyuk, Director of the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL), a Ukrainian non-profit, stated at an online conference jointly hosted by the Council of North Korean Human Rights Organizations (Bukinhyeop) and the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), a Ukrainian citizen group, that "there is information indicating Russia and North Korea are negotiating the joint establishment of defense industry facilities in North Korea, specifically focusing on setting up a drone manufacturing plant." However, Director Gumenyuk did not disclose the specific details or sources of this information.

Choe Son Hui, North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs (right), met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Moscow Kremlin on the 19th, according to a report by Korean Central News Agency on the 21st. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

She explained, "Large-scale drone production requires a sizable workforce with a certain level of education and access to Chinese components. North Korea meets both conditions, making it a highly suitable country to become a major drone production base." She added, "A North Korean military delegation visited Russia multiple times last year to study Russian military training systems and combat experience, and it is known that new tactics and doctrines are being introduced in the areas of drone operations, drone defense systems, electronic intelligence, and electronic warfare." She argued that preparations should be made for the possibility of North Korea evolving into a world-leading drone-producing country.

Director Gumenyuk also commented that given the regions in which North Korean forces have operated as part of Russian deployments, the likelihood of their direct involvement in war crimes against Ukrainian civilians so far is low, but if the scale of North Korean deployments to Russia increases in the future, it could become a potential threat.

Previously, on July 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a speech posted on his social networking service X (formerly Twitter), "Russia wants an additional 30,000 troops from North Korea," and added that preparations to accommodate them have been underway in Russia's Voronezh region since June.

Meanwhile, at the conference, Bukinhyeop and CCL, alliances of private organizations for North Korean human rights, agreed to jointly investigate the possibility of North Korean involvement in war crimes perpetrated by the Russian Federation by establishing a permanent cooperation body, the "Special Investigation Team on Possible North Korean Involvement in War Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation."

The special investigation team will jointly document and investigate international crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including various forms of military cooperation with North Korea, troop dispatches, and provision of military supplies and equipment, all requiring evaluation under international law. The team also plans to collect evidence of war crimes against civilians, including Ukrainian children. In addition, they agreed to cooperate on providing humanitarian protection for North Korean soldiers and nationals, and on exchanging information related to North Korea-Russia military cooperation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.