This unlikely partnership reveals a troubling reality: the isolated nation has become one of Moscow’s most reliable military suppliers — not because of its technological prowess, but because its nuclear arsenal shields it from meaningful Western retaliation.
The implications go beyond the battlefield. This marks a significant expansion of Russia’s support network — one that complements, rather than replaces, its relationship with Iran.
While Iran continues to provide Moscow with sophisticated drones and regional disruption capabilities, its utility as a wartime partner is increasingly constrained. Domestic unrest has drawn Tehran’s focus inward, while US and Israeli operations have made its leadership cautious about exposing critical military assets.
Most importantly, Iran’s decision to remain a nuclear threshold state — a move calculated to preserve leverage without inviting full-scale war — leaves it vulnerable to foreign intervention. Iran must weigh each escalatory step, constantly calibrating risk. North Korea does not.
Despite its isolation and economic hardship, Pyongyang operates with impunity. Its nuclear arsenal, though crude, grants absolute protection from regime-change scenarios. This allows Kim Jong Un to act boldly — supplying weapons, personnel and support without hesitation or fear of reprisal. When Russia needs ammunition, North Korea doesn’t hesitate. When Moscow seeks unconditional loyalty, Pyongyang obliges.
The economic angle is equally revealing. North Korea’s continued arms exports, despite global sanctions, expose the limits of Western financial pressure against nuclear-armed states. These deals likely rely on barter, sanctioned intermediaries or alternative currencies, bypassing the Western-dominated financial system entirely.
This emerging “division of labor” serves all parties. Iran maintains plausible deniability while pursuing regional goals. North Korea monetizes its military stockpiles and showcases its strategic relevance. Russia receives diverse forms of support tailored to each partner’s risk tolerance.
What’s forming is not a formal alliance but an ecosystem — one defined by transactional partnerships, hardened regimes and nuclear immunity.
For Washington, this presents a sobering dilemma. The standard toolkit — sanctions, isolation, limited military threats — loses its effectiveness when adversaries are nuclear-armed, deeply sanctioned and increasingly interconnected.
The more these states cooperate, the harder they become to isolate or deter. North Korea doesn’t need to be strong. It only needs to be useful — and untouchable. That’s the new model. And it’s not theoretical anymore.
When nuclear weapons become a passport to participation in global conflicts — rather than just a deterrent against invasion — rogue states don’t just survive – they thrive. That’s not just a challenge for American strategy. It’s a fundamental rewriting of the rules of power.
Kurt Davis Jr is a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He advises private, public, and state-owned companies and creditors globally on cross-border transactions.
NK might have nukes, but no barbers or personal trainers. FatBoyKim needs a make-over.
Israel, I think, is the only country that shouldn’t have nukes. Its leaders are just too belligerent and its politics too unstable.
The problem not mentioned here is that MAD has worked just fine within the context of mature states that value their populations. Even muslim Pakistan is very hesitant to even contemplate their use as we saw recently, but it is still a very unstable country who feels the pressure of its big neighbour. North Korea & Iran are hard line “chip on the shoulder” cult states in which their people have no value or importance. They can turn into “suicide” states once they feel their power base is disappearing for either for religious or dogmatic reasons appear and unlike other nuclear states delight in threatening their neighbours.
Good for Kim Jong-Un. TACO Trump wants to meet Kim, but Kim just ignores him. Trump has no value for Kim. Kim’s attention is all for Putin.
The only tubby bloke in NK.
That’s why I advocate for every country having its own nuke, like North Korea. Immune to any (super)power, the world would live in peace.
By the way, both Koreas are gaining ground as arms dealers behind the US, Russia, China, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, and Israel. North Korea, on the other hand, is increasingly catching up with the US by sending tin soldiers to war abroad, such as in Ukraine.
They are gaining fighting experience which is an important talking point for some. We don’t know what back room deals have been done with Russia who still have plenty of lethal tech. Not good for USA.
Fighting experience as the canon fodder for Russia !
I’m sure the Pentagon is not popping champagne at this development
The US is popping the Champagne. Russia has been decimated, it’s armed forces shown to be ‘Putinkim’.
NK is no threat to anyone, they could let off a few firecrackers, then watch the entire country be leveled.
Their weapons are very small, just like CHinese.