Overview

• The Friedrich Naumann Foundation estimates North Korea has supplied Russia with $5.6–$9.8 billion in weapons and fighters since 2023, compared with $457 million to $1.19 billion in observable returns.
• Shipments cited include millions of artillery shells, rockets and mortar rounds, hundreds of artillery systems and launchers, short‑range ballistic missiles, and roughly 15,000 deployed soldiers.
• Reported compensation to Pyongyang has largely consisted of food, fuel and some air‑defence systems, with possibly limited aircraft, and no clear inflow of hard currency to North Korea.
• The report highlights strategic benefits for Pyongyang such as battlefield weapons testing and potential access to know‑how, yet notes it found no evidence of a direct Russian role in the North’s technological modernization.
• The study warns of mounting risks for Europe and urges tighter EU controls on dual‑use technology, closer intelligence cooperation with South Korea and Japan, and action to close energy loopholes; a South Korean NIS estimate puts North Korean troop deaths around 2,000.