Kyiv, Ukraine – In a concerning development, a ballistic missile fired by Russian forces in Ukraine last month has been found to contain hundreds of components traced back to companies in the United States and Europe, according to a new report from an investigative organization.
The findings, published by the UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) group, mark the first public identification of North Korea’s reliance on foreign technology for its missile program. This revelation underscores the persistent challenge faced by the Biden administration as it attempts to prevent low-cost, Western-made microelectronics intended for civilian use from ending up in weapons used by North Korea, Iran, and Russia.
Direct Examination Reveals Foreign Components
CAR’s researchers directly examined 290 components recovered from the remnants of a North Korean ballistic missile discovered in January in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Their analysis found that a staggering 75% of these components were designed and sold by companies incorporated in the United States.
Furthermore, the report indicates that an additional 16% of the components were linked to firms in Europe, while the remaining 9% originated from companies in Asia. These components primarily comprised the missile’s navigation system and could be traced back to 26 companies headquartered in the United States, China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
Last year, as previously reported by CNN, CAR determined that 82% of the components inside Iranian-made attack drones fired by Russia inside Ukraine were manufactured by American companies.
Efforts to Curb Access to Western Technology
In an attempt to curb access to Western-made technology, the Biden administration has implemented extensive sanctions and export controls. Additionally, in late 2022, the administration established an expansive task force to investigate how American and Western components, including US-made microelectronics, were ending up in Iranian-made drones that Russia has been launching by the hundreds into Ukraine.
However, it remains unclear how much progress this task force has made, as the National Security Council did not respond to multiple requests for comment from CNN.
Circumventing Decades of Sanctions
The latest CAR report does not name the specific companies that produced the components found in the North Korean missile. This decision was made because there is no evidence that these firms deliberately shipped the parts to North Korea. Instead, it is likely that the components were diverted somewhere along the vast global supply chain after the companies sold them to various international distributors. CAR prefers to work collaboratively with companies to address these issues rather than publicly identifying and criticizing them, according to a CAR spokesperson who spoke with CNN.
The research also reveals that North Korea was able to produce the missile and ship it to Russia relatively quickly. The components examined by the researchers were manufactured between 2021 and 2023. Based on these production dates, the researchers conclude that the missile “could not have been assembled before March 2023” and was already in use by Russia in Ukraine by January.
The fact that North Korea’s missile production appears to be fueled by parts originating in the West highlights the difficulty faced by the US and its allies in controlling the destination of commercial electronics, particularly semiconductor components that are extremely challenging to track once they enter the global supply chain.
The findings indicate that North Korea “has developed a robust acquisition network capable of circumventing, without detection, sanction regimes that have been in place for nearly two decades,” according to the CAR report.
Despite these efforts, Russia continues to be supplied by North Korea and Iran, while the Biden administration has been unable to provide new weaponry and equipment to the Ukrainian military due to a lack of supplemental funding approved by Congress.
Growing Ties Between Russia and North Korea
The White House confirmed last month that Russia has been firing North Korean missiles at Ukrainian cities. Additionally, North Korea has likely provided Russia with “millions of artillery rounds” over the past year, according to a report published last week by the Pentagon’s inspector general.
Intelligence officials in Washington are increasingly concerned about the growing ties between North Korea and Russia, as CNN previously reported. These officials are also worried about the long-term implications of what appears to be a new level of strategic partnership between the two nations.
CAR stated in its report that its examination of the North Korean missile “shows that North Korea has been able to produce advanced weapons, integrating components produced as recently as 2023, in spite of United Nations Security Council sanctions in place since 2006 that prohibit the production of ballistic missiles by North Korea.”
Russia’s use of North Korean missiles on the battlefield in Ukraine may also provide Pyongyang with data that it cannot obtain from its own testing program, which has seen dozens of weapons fired over the past few years under the leadership of Kim Jong Un.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said last month that North Korea may also be seeking military assistance from Russia, including “fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment, war materials and other advanced technologies.
“This would have concerning security implications for the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
The findings of this report highlight the ongoing challenges faced by the international community in preventing the proliferation of weapons technology and the potential consequences of such developments for global security and stability.
