Five days after the launch, the isolated country fired two medium-range missiles in what it called a “critical” test for a spy satellite program it intends to complete by April.
The White House said on Thursday that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery of infantry rockets and missiles to Wagner Group, a private Russian military company, to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.
Wagner’s boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, denied the claim as “gossip and speculation”.
Pyongyang’s foreign ministry on Friday denied a Japanese media report on an ammunition shipment to Russia, calling it “baseless”.
The Tokyo Shimbun reported that North Korea sent artillery shells and other munitions to Russia by train last month, with additional shipments expected in the coming weeks.
North Korea’s foreign ministry said it had never traded arms with Russia and criticized Washington for supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons, making no mention of Wagner.