Bad news for Russian combat aviation! Ukrainian army will destroy enemy planes with South Korean missiles

On June 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang for the first time in 24 years and signed an agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Details of the agreement are not known, but Kim said the two countries have a "fiery friendship". Experts believe that the agreement will lead to closer industrial and military ties between the two countries, which could continue Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine, Forbes writes.

The South Korean government immediately reacted to such an agreement. The country's national security adviser, Chang Ho-jin, said that if Pyongyang supplies Russia with more weapons, Seoul may provide them to Kiev.

Now, South Korea has yet to announce closer ties with Ukraine, but if it does, it is likely that the Ukrainian authorities will demand the same types of weapons that Russia is already receiving from North Korea. "Russia is known to have purchased a batch of powerful KN-23 submarine-launched ballistic missiles from North Korea at the end of last year and used them with devastating effect," the newspaper said.

"If North Korea can sell the KN-23 to Russia, then South Korea can sell the Hyunmoo-series CRMB to Ukraine," emphasizes Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.< br />
It is still unknown whether Ukraine will ever receive the Hyunmoo-2B air defense system. However, the US has already handed Kiev dozens of missiles from the army's tactical missile system, which have a range of up to 300 km, but insists they are of limited use.

"Washington allows Kiev to direct ATACMS at targets in Russian-occupied Ukraine, but not at targets in Russia itself. This means that front-line Russian air bases, where dozens of Sukhoi fighter-bombers armed with devastating floating bombs are based, are out of range, the newspaper said.

However, the Ukrainian military can strike these bases through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, but light drones do not have sufficient firepower to destroy aircraft based at Russian airfields.

However, with a few well-aimed ATACMS or other ballistic missiles "Ukraine could potentially disable the entire operational fleet" from fighter-bombers at the Voronezh airport, notes the Ukrainian research center Frontelligence Insight. However, this could happen "if permission is obtained for such a strike".

Even without permission to strike Russian territory, Ukraine could use South Korean missiles to its advantage, as there are many valuable Russian facilities in the conquered territories that can be destroyed, Forbes concluded.