North Korea’s evolving threat goes beyond missiles as Russia ties deepen

North Korea’s military cooperation with Russia is giving Pyongyang more than new weapons.

From electronic warfare equipment to battlefield lessons learned in Ukraine, the partnership could change how North Korean forces fight, military experts say, although the extent of those gains remains difficult to verify.

Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, recently warned that North Korea had received Russian-made jamming equipment and had gained experience in moving troops and supplies over long distances through its involvement in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies’ event on Oct. 13, Brunson said the equipment marked a change in North Korea’s electronic warfare capabilities.

“They didn’t have those jammers before. Those jammers were given to them by the Russians,” he said.

Brunson also pointed to interference affecting movement in Korean territorial waters, saying the jamming activity had not reached its full potential. His remarks raised questions about how far Russian assistance has strengthened North Korea’s ability to disrupt communications and navigation.

Beyond the equipment, Brunson said North Korean troops had gained experience deploying personnel and military equipment over long distances, organizing supply lines and sustaining operations abroad. Such skills are difficult to acquire through military exercises alone.

Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, said the lessons could become a threat if North Korea puts them into practice.

“No matter how realistically you train, you can’t reproduce the conditions of an actual war exactly,” Shin said. He noted that North Korean troops had faced drone attacks in Ukraine and had opportunities to adapt their tactics.

“If they develop their doctrine from that experience, it becomes a security threat to us.”

Shin said Russia was capable of supplying more advanced electronic warfare equipment than North Korea had previously acquired from abroad. Such systems could interfere with military communications and GPS-guided weapons, potentially disrupting battlefield coordination during a conflict, Shin said. He considered Russian assistance plausible but did not independently confirm any specific equipment transfer.

“Electronic warfare is fundamental to modern warfare,” he said.

Retired Lt. Gen. Chun In-bum, a former commander of the Army’s Special Warfare Command, said the greater threat lies not in individual weapons but in how new technology and battlefield experience could work together to strengthen North Korea’s military capabilities.

“It’s not just missiles, electronic warfare or drones. It’s all of them coming together,” Chun said. “One plus one plus one doesn’t add up to three. It becomes five or 10.”

Chun was particularly concerned that North Korean troops had grown more confident through their battlefield experience and might be more willing to take risks along the border.

“The biggest problem is their confidence,” he said.

However, Chun cautioned against assuming that combat experience alone had turned North Korea into a modern fighting force.

“Battlefield experience does not automatically produce a modern, competent military. But neither should we dismiss them,” he said, emphasizing that North Korea was learning and receiving outside assistance.

Shin was less convinced that growing confidence would translate into bolder provocations. North Korea, he said, also knows that South Korean forces possess accurate and powerful weapons, a factor its commanders cannot ignore.

A military official, meanwhile, said the practical effects of North Korea’s experience in Ukraine remain unclear. It is difficult to establish how returning troops have changed their training or small-unit tactics without observing those changes over time, the official said.

“To assess the actual threat, you need to see what they do,” the official said, adding that evidence must accumulate before analysts can distinguish new capabilities from potential ones. The official did not confirm whether the military had independently verified the arrival or deployment of the Russian jammers Brunson described.