Supplying Troops, Weapons To Russia Earning North Korea $14 Billion

$14 billion is alot of money for an economy like North Korea's. And though it is unclear whether Russia can actually afford to transfer that amount of cash, given its dire economic condition, even the debt - especially if guaranteed or somehow underwritten by China - is a significant financial boost, making the provision of cannon fodder and missiles quite the export business opportunity. JL

Raj K reports in Medium:

North Korea could earn up to 14.4 billion dollars by providing soldiers and weapons to Russia, making it a major source of income for the country. Soldiers alone could easily earn $560 million per year. The second and largest component of earnings is attributable to the supply of weapons. Russia is also providing North Korea with military technology including satellite systems, and modern military equipment.

A very shocking report has recently come out about the growing military closeness between North Korea and Russia.

In it, South Korea’s National Security Strategy Institute explains in detail how this war has become a major source of income for North Korea.

South Korea’s news agency Yonhap News Agency reported on March 16, quoting a study, that North Korea could earn up to about 14.4 billion dollars by providing soldiers and weapons to Russia.

This study was prepared by South Korea’s research institute, the National Security Strategy Institute.

According to the report, Pyongyang has sent soldiers to Russia in several phases since October 2024. It is estimated that more than 20,000 soldiers have been deployed in four phases to support Russia.

These soldiers are primarily used for training, logistics support, and, in some cases, battlefield tasks.

From the deployment of these soldiers, North Korea could earn up to approximately $ 620 million.

This estimate also includes economic factors such as soldiers’ salaries, potential bonuses, and compensation paid upon death in wartime.

If this process continues in the same way, these soldiers alone could easily earn $560 million per year.

The second and largest component of earnings is attributable to the supply of weapons, and satellite imagery has been used to corroborate this.

Based on these pictures, experts believe that North Korea has provided Russia with large amounts of ammunition and different types of dangerous weapons, which are helping to fill Russia’s decreasing supplies in the Ukraine war.

According to a study by South Korea’s National Security Strategy Institute, from August 2023 to December 2025, North Korea could earn between 7.67 billion and 14.4 billion dollars through military cooperation with Russia.

However, the report also notes that the full estimated earnings may not actually reach North Korea.

Analysts estimate that only about 4% to 19.6% of the total amount may have reached Pyongyang directly in the form of foreign currency.

Nevertheless, the importance of this cooperation for North Korea extends beyond financial support.

According to the report, it could gain one additional significant benefit from this process — access to advanced military technology and equipment.

The Ukraine-based military intelligence service of HUR stated on February 4th that North Korean forces had an active presence in Russia’s Kursk Oblast region until early January 2026.

The region is geographically close to the Russia-Ukraine border and has recently been in the spotlight as a result of various reported military activities.

There is a similarly extremely costly human price for this military alliance that North Korea is being asked to pay; as per reports from Yonhap, approximately $6,000, North Korean soldiers have either died or suffered serious injury while serving as members of the Russian military at some point thus far.

Both Russia and North Korea are countries with highly secretive governments, and no official information about any military or economic agreements between them is publicly available.

But in the last few years, cooperation between the two countries has actually increased.

As far as I believe, the real benefit for North Korea may not be money but military technology. Russia has advanced missile technology, satellite systems, and modern military equipment.

If technical cooperation occurs in these areas, North Korea’s military capability can become quite strong in the future.

Trump says he could meet Kim Jong Un

On March 13, an unexpected meeting took place in Washington during a briefing between US President Donald Trump and the South Korean Prime Minister.

During the meeting, Trump reportedly expressed personal interest in potential talks with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

According to reports, Trump asked during the conversation whether Kim Jong Un “comes forward to talk to America or directly with me.” Even during Trump’s previous term, he had adopted a policy of direct dialogue with North Korea.

At that time, the summit meetings held in Singapore and Vietnam received considerable international attention.

The purpose of these meetings was to open the way for talks on North Korea’s nuclear program and regional security issues.

This recent statement remains significant to our current situation due to North Korea’s recent series of missile and weapon testing events.

The recent testing has caused an increase in talk of increasing the security cooperation among the United States, South Korea, and Japan.

Pyongyang recently conducted a large firepower strike exercise using a nuclear-capable multiple rocket launcher system with a diameter of 600 millimeters.

In this test, rockets were fired over a distance of more than 360 kilometers, and an island area in the eastern sea of Korea was targeted.

This sea area is often known by the name Sea of Japan or “East Sea of Korea.” The test was monitored by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un himself. His daughter, Kim Ju-ae was also present with him.

According to North Korea’s government news agency, the Korean Central News Agency, this exercise included 12 highly precise rocket launcher systems operated by units of the Korean People’s Army.

The timing of this test is also considered important. This exercise happened just one day after North Korea fired about 10 ballistic missiles toward the sea.

Japan confirmed that these projectiles fell outside its special economic zone, also known as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in maritime law.

The entire sequence of events presents a broader picture. On one side, tensions are increasing in the Middle East, on the other side, the Russia–Ukraine war continues in Europe, and now military activities are also speeding up in Asia.

Therefore, for this reason, many think that they are separate regional crises, or simply, part of a global competitive struggle for power.

On the other hand, the meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un was not officially confirmed; however, there are very strong signs.