This photo, provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, shows the launch of the North's new Chollima-1 rocket, allegedly carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, Malligyong-1, from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast at 6:29 a.m., June 1. AP-Yonhap

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have created a rare boon for cash-strapped North Korea.

The North is cashing in on the wars by supplying artillery and munitions to Russia for the war in Ukraine and exporting weapons to Hamas and providing them with training and tactics to help the terrorist group improve its capabilities against Israel.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said last week that North Korea is believed to have exported more than 1 million shells to Russia following a weapons deal in July.

If this is true, the North would have earned more than $300 million as shells are priced at $300 to $400 each, according to experts.

The revenue will likely be used to finance North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program. But Pyongyang’s extra income generated directly from arms sales to Moscow can stop at any time if Russia signs a ceasefire with Ukraine. Therefore, the long-term impact of the North Korea-Russia arms deal on the security situation in East Asia could be limited.

However, the real security threat comes from the quid pro quo that North Korea is believed to have already received from Russia in return for the weapons provision.

South Korea is wary of Russia’s technology transfer to the North as it embarks on a third attempt to launch a military spy satellite after two failed efforts.

A North Korean spy satellite will pose one of the gravest security threats to South Korea, according to Cheong Seong-chang, a senior research fellow at the Sejong Institute.

This is because North Korea will have an “eye in the sky” that can help it detect and strike South Korea’s major military and industrial facilities more easily, he said.

“As seen in its previous successful launches of various missiles, North Korea has the capabilities to launch the satellite. But they revealed critical limitations in other details, such as the development and installation of high-resolution cameras on the satellite. I think Russia helped North Korea fix this problem,” he told The Korea Times. “I think the chances of North Korea succeeding in a third attempt to launch a spy satellite are high. If they succeed this time, it will be just a matter of time before North Korea ends up with an eye in the sky to keep tabs on South Korea’s major facilities.”

Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, also known as ISR, is an area where North Korea lags far behind South Korea.

To make up for its asymmetrical military capabilities in ISR, North Korea attempted to put a spy satellite into space twice this year, first in May and later in August. But the first two attempts failed and the North announced that it would try again in October but it was delayed without any official explanation.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea could attempt to launch a satellite on Nov. 18, or Military Industry Day.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said on Monday that North Korea seemed to have delayed the schedule of the spy satellite launch perhaps because of Russia’s technology transfer.

During a news conference to mark 100 days in office, Minister Kim told reporters that certain evidence shows t her details.

He condend North Korea for violating U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shake hands during their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky, about 200 kilometers from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the Amur region, of the Russian Far East, Sept. 13. AP-Yonhap

The latest developments in the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East are grave enough to make North Korean leader Kim Jong-un believe that time is on his side.

Among others, the Joe Biden administration has shifted attention back to the Middle East in an effort to curb the spread of the war from becoming a regional crisis, from its prior focus on the Indo-Pacific region to counter China.

The shift in U.S. foreign policy, although temporary, benefits North Korea, according to experts.

“U.S. attention on North Korea has been reduced by a shift of U.S. attention to Hamas,” Bruce Bennett, an adjunct international defense researcher at RAND Corporation, said in an email interview with The Korea Times. “A shift of U.S. attention away from North Korea had already started with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and before that with rising U.S. concerns about China and that shift will almost certainly continue now.”

The more the Israel-Hamas War drags on just like the protracted Russia-Ukraine war, the easier North Korean leader Kim will find to invest in his dangerous military experiment.

Wi Sung-lac, South Korea’s former ambassador to Russia, said the ongoing two wars ― one in Ukraine and the other the Middle East ― have created a security environment in favor of North Korea one way or another.

“North Korea has now more room to maneuver than before,” he said. “Russia and China remain reluctant to cooperate with other permanent U.N. Security Council members in imposing fresh sanctions on North Korea, despite the North’s provocations.”

Visibility in the Middle East

The Israel-Hamas war seemed to have helped North Korea become more visible in the Middle East.

Calling it an ally, a senior member of Hamas touted North Korea as an emerging country that can lead an “axis of resistance” against the U.S. and the West. The terminology was coined in the early 2000s in response to then-U.S. President George W. Bush’s characterization of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil."

Ali Baraka, also known as Ali Barakeh, a member of Hamas’s exiled leadership in Beirut, said North Korea is an ally of the terrorist group.

“Iran does not have the capabilities to attack America on its territory, but North Korea does have,” he said in a video uploaded by the Middle East Media Research Institute on YouTube on Nov. 3. He was referring to North Korea’s successful launch of the inter-continental ballistic missiles.

“The day may come when North Korea intervenes, because it is, after all, part of our alliance,” he said. “Today, all of America’s enemies or all those shown enmity by the U.S. are growing closer. Today, Russia contacts us on a daily basis. The Chinese sent envoys to Doha and China and Russia met with the leader of Hamas.”

Cheong said North Korea is certainly a beneficiary of the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

“I think there are three nations that are enjoying the turbulent geopolitical landscape after the Israel-Hamas war. They are China, Russia and North Korea,” he said.

Cheong said South Korea should be thoroughly prepared as North Korea will become more provocative than before.