North Korea Expert Professor Lankov: "Low Possibility of Russian Nuclear Technology Transferring to North Korea"

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held a summit with Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated that he would "help North Korea develop artificial satellites," raising concerns that missile and nuclear technology might also be transferred. However, Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert and professor at the College of Liberal Arts at Kookmin University, dismissed these concerns, saying, "The likelihood of that is not very high."

On the 14th, Professor Lankov said on SBS's 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show,' "Russia is one of the five legitimate nuclear-weapon states under international law," adding, "Because it has many real privileges, Russia has no reason to favor nuclear proliferation."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The nuclear-weapon states under international law are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China. Because this status itself is a privilege, he explained that Russia would not engage in nuclear proliferation. He said, "Nuclear proliferation would destroy Russia's privileges," adding, "It is somewhat hard to believe that nuclear technology would be transferred, but missile technology and such could be transferred. However, this is seen more as a diplomatic pressure tool than something they truly want to do."

In response to the host's question about whether Russia would turn a blind eye to North Korea's nuclear armament, he said, "They might close their eyes a little, but in the long term, there is no reason to overlook it," explaining, "Because it would inevitably pose a very dangerous challenge to Russia's international privileges." The reason is that if North Korea's nuclear armament leads to nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons could spread to multiple countries like a domino effect, reducing Russia's vested interests.

Professor Lankov explained that the close ties between North Korea and Russia largely serve as pressure to prevent South Korea from providing weapons support to Ukraine. He said, "Above all, Seoul's priority is to avoid supporting Ukraine," adding, "At this stage, South Korea will face significant pressure from Russia."

He also said, "Currently, South Korea's military industry is world-class, with good quality and great capabilities. Although not at the level of the United States, it is still very advanced," and added, "Therefore, Russia will likely make great efforts to prevent South Korea from supporting Ukraine."

He also explained that even if Russia shares satellite technology with North Korea, there is little the United States can do. Professor Lankov said, "Even if they are unhappy, there is practically nothing they can do," adding, "There are virtually no additional sanctions left to impose on North Korea or Russia." This is because all possible sanctions have already been used.

He said, "The most important unknown factor now is the attitude of Russia and China," adding, "Whether they will keep their promises regarding sanctions or not. At this stage, the likelihood that they will not keep them is relatively high."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.