North Korea dismisses claims of weapons shipments to Russia

North Korea has dismissed claims by the United States that it is covertly shipping weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, saying it had never sold arms to Moscow and had no plans to do so.

Tuesday’s statement on the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) comes after White House National Security Spokesperson John Kirby said last week that the US had information indicating North Korea was supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells.

He said North Korea was attempting to obscure the shipments by funnelling them through countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and that Washington was monitoring to see whether the shipments were received.