THE North Korea has been shipping since about july 6,700 boxes with millions ammunition at Russia to support it in its war in Ukraine, South Korean media reported today, citing the defense minister.

In his briefing yesterday, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik stated that the boxes may have contained more than 3 million shells of 152mm artillery, or 500,000 122mm shells.

“It could be a mixture of the two, and one can say that at least a few million shells have been sent,” Shin added, as reported by Yonhap news agency.

“Hundreds of munitions factories in North Korea are operating at 30% capacity due to shortages of raw materials and electricity, but those producing shells for Russia are fully operational,” the South Korean defense minister noted.

THE Seoul and the Washington they have accused Pyongyang and Moscow of exchanging equipment and criticized North Korean arms deliveries to Russia. Both countries deny the accusations although they have pledged to strengthen their military cooperation.

The State Department released on Friday document in which it says North Korea has offered more than 100,000 boxes of ammunition or other related material to Russia since September.

In in return the North Korea has received about 9,000 boxes which mainly contained foodswhich, Shin explained, have helped stabilize prices in the country.

Shin also said that North Korea may launch another satellite as early as next month, as Moscow continues to provide it with technical assistance. At the same time, Pyongyang has requested Russia’s help in matters of aircraft technology and ground military equipment.

“It is not clear how much Russia will give, but the more it depends on North Korean shells, the greater the degree of Russian technology transfer,” he estimated.