North Korea has supplied Russia with over 12 million rounds of 152 mm artillery shells, bolstering Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, South Korean military intelligence revealed on Sunday.

According to a report by South Korea’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Pyongyang has shipped around 28,000 containers filled with weapons and ammunition to Russia. “If calculated with 152 mm single shells, the number of supplied shells is presumed to exceed 12 million,” the DIA noted in its briefing to an opposition lawmaker.

Since October 2023, North Korea has reportedly provided Russia with conventional arms and approximately 13,000 troops. Additional personnel—including 5,000 military construction workers and 1,000 sappers—may be dispatched to Russia’s Kursk region as early as July or August, according to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

This escalating military cooperation followed a high-level visit by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu to Pyongyang in June, where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Soon after, Russian media reported the planned deployment of North Korean labor units to support reconstruction in war-affected areas.

The NIS added that Pyongyang has supplied Russia with more than 10 million artillery shells, along with missiles and long-range weapons. In return, North Korea is reportedly receiving economic aid and technical assistance from Moscow.

South Korean intelligence also emphasized that these arms and personnel transfers have played a crucial role in supporting Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine. Russia now controls roughly 81% of the contested Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.

Ukrainian intelligence agencies believe a major Russian offensive could begin between July and August, amid rising regional tensions.