Russia may share advanced satellite tech with North Korea, Blinken warns

Driving the news: In exchange, North Korea has already received military equipment and training from Russia, Blinken said at a press conference in Seoul, South Korea Monday.

• "Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang," he added.
• Moreover, Russia "may be close" to accepting North Korea's nuclear-weapons program, thereby reversing a decades-long policy commitment to denuclearizing in the Korean Peninsula, Blinken added.

The big picture: Blinken is in South Korea this week for what is expected to be his last foreign tour before the end of the Biden administration.

• His remarks coincided with North Korea firing a midrange ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday.

State of play: Russia helped North Korea execute its first successful satellite launch in 2023.

• Help with building and launching North Korean satellites is a part of a broader deal struck by the two allies that same year, in exchange for North Korea providing Russia with artillery ammunitions, Politico reported.
• Navy Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, warned in November that Russia would likely provide North Korea with submarine and missile technology, in exchange for North Korea's assistance in Russia's war in Ukraine.

Go deeper: What to know about the Russia-North Korea alliance