Content |
GDP
2023: Real GDP growth of 3.1%
North Korea's real GDP grew 3.1% in 2023. Heavy industry is leading the way in growth.
2022: GDP $24.5 billion
North Korea's GDP in 2022 is estimated at about $24.5 billion.
Labour market
2024: Posing as Americans, North Korean tech workers sign remote work contracts with hundreds of U.S. companies
Posing as Americans, North Korean tech workers have contracted to work remotely with hundreds of U.S. companies in a scheme designed to secure funding for Pyongyang's illegal nuclear weapons and missile programs, the U.S. government said Thursday.
More than 300 American companies were deceived, according to the US Department of Justice in May 2024.
2023: Labour exports to obtain currency by the government
In April 2023, Japan, South Korea and the United States called on countries to return North Korean workers illegally working abroad.
Workers were sent abroad in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and countries that host those workers could facilitate illegal activities, the statement said. "UN member states have a duty to repatriate all workers from the DPRK who receive income in their jurisdiction."
North Korea typically takes about 90% of the wages earned by workers, using foreign currency to support its nuclear weapons programs, according to a report by a panel of experts to the Security Council.
Foreign trade
2023
Possible delivery of 3 million shells to Russia
North Korea sent containers to Russia that could hold millions of artillery shells, according to a senior South Korean official voiced in February 2024.
North Korea is estimated to have shipped about 6,700 containers to Russia, speeding up the pace of deliveries after Russian President Putin held a summit with Kim Jong Un in September 2023. The containers could hold about 3 million 152 mm shells. In exchange, Russia supplies North Korea with food, raw materials and parts used in weapons production.
Slow recovery of exports to China and recovery of imports from China to 2008 levels
2022: China accounts for 99% of DPRK imports and 69% of exports
2021: China trade slump
2017: China, India and Russia - Key Trading Partners
Digitalization and Robotization
Using ABB robots
At the end of November 2019, industrial robots created by the Swiss company ABB, which should not be there, were seen in images from North Korea. The supply of industrial equipment to North Korea is prohibited in accordance with UN sanctions due to the nuclear weapons program supported by the DPRK government. ABB said it did not violate international sanctions on North Korea, but its equipment was likely resold without the manufacturer's permission. Read more here.
Information technology in the DPRK: Facial recognition system and data encryption, VPN and regular sites
The products of the IT sector of North Korea do not fall under international sanctions, although in 2017, unilateral restrictive measures on the DPRK in this area were imposed by US President Donald Trump by decree. At the same time, the authors of the report note, due to the intangible nature of the IT sector's services, these sanctions turn out to be quite easy to bypass[1]
Companies hide their connection with the DPRK government by creating chains of intermediary organizations, mainly in China, Southeast Asia, Africa and Russia: formally, the ultimate sellers of IT technologies have nothing to do with Pyongyang, and the authorities of the aforementioned countries are often not too interested in conducting investigations to establish the ultimate owners.
The products produced by these companies are extremely diverse - from data encryption software and VPNs to fingerprint scanning technologies (purchased by Chinese companies and the Nigerian government) and facial recognition programs. Companies associated with the DPRK also earn on simpler things, such as creating business management systems or regular websites for millions of corporate clients around the world.
Pyongyang-affiliated structures have found numerous clients in the West, from small private companies in Europe to "at least one influential defense company in a US ally country," as well as American elementary schools and law enforcement agencies. The authors of the report express concern that in fact in this way Washington and its allies can indirectly pay for the DPRK's nuclear program, including from taxpayer funds.
Another reason for concern - no one reliably knows what vulnerabilities can be initially embedded in the IT products of Korean companies and how they can then be used. According to the US authorities, it was the DPRK that was behind the WannaCry virus, which in the spring of 2017 hit more than 200 thousand computers around the world, and is also responsible for the theft of 100 million dollars from the bank's accounts. Bangladesh
Tourism
2025: North Korea opens borders to tourists from all countries except the United States and South Korea
On January 16, 2025, the Chinese tour operator Young Pioneer Tours announced that North Korea had officially opened the Rason Special Economic Zone, located in the northeast of the country, for tourists. It is expected that guests from China will be the first to visit the DPRK.
According to Young Pioneer Tours, referring to information received from partners, the Rason economic zone will be open to tourists from all countries except the United States and South Korea. The first tourist trips will last up to 5 days. Moreover, for Chinese tourists to visit Rason, it is enough to issue a special one-time permit to enter North Korea.
Rason borders the Chinese province of Girin and the Primorsky Territory of Russia. At the same time, the border with the Russian Federation passes along the Tumannaya River (Tumangan). Technically, the special economic zone operates under a different visa regime than the rest of North Korea and is even considered "visa-free," although guests still need permission to travel.
Tourism in Rason is significantly different from what visitors to the rest of the DPRK see. In particular, there are fewer opportunities for inspection and entertainment compared to Pyongyang or other regions of the country. Rason gives tourists the opportunity to see the business side of the DPRK by visiting factories, a port, a foreign language school, a taekwondo school, a North Korean bank, etc. In addition, as noted, Rason is the only city in North Korea where foreigners can visit the market.
 | Rason is a place that is rarely visited during the first trip to North Korea, and although there is no fuss that is observed in Pyongyang, it is great for a second visit to the DPRK or, as we like to say, a trip to "another North Korea, notes Young Pioneer Tours.[2] |  |
Smartphone market
2024: North Korea's first smartphone market survey
As of 2024, smartphones in North Korea sell at least ten brands. In two years, this figure has more than doubled. Some companies have begun to follow marketing strategies from overseas competitors, offering multiple versions of the same device at different prices, giving consumers more choice than ever before. This is stated in the study of the Stimson Center, the results of which were published at the end of September 2024.
It is noted that, despite the improvement in the availability of smartphones, the market is tightly controlled by the authorities. The devices offered to consumers have limited functionality, which is why they are suitable only for basic communications. In addition, users can only consume content that is approved by North Korean regulators.
The report says that in total, about 55 smartphone models are available on the DPRK market. These are devices from brands such as Arirang, Chongsong, Hwawon, Jindallae, Kiltongmu, Madusan, Myohyang, Furunhanal, Pyongyang, etc. Models of various levels have appeared in the assortment of North Korean smartphone suppliers - budget and more expensive, the cost of which exceeds $700. North Korean companies are installing a modified version that operating system Android includes various restrictions.
For 2024, the main cellular standard in North Korea is 3G. At the end of 2023, information appeared that the development of 4G infrastructure began in the country. In addition, the DPRK has a Mirae Wi-Fi wireless network, which, according to reports, is capable of providing throughput up to 70 Mbps, which is significantly higher compared to the local 3G mobile network.[3]
Consumption
2023: Fish consumption is higher than meat consumption
2018: Minimum age to purchase alcoholic beverages
Notes
- ↑ North Korea has created a network of IT companies around the world: they make facial recognition system and data encryption, VPNs and ordinary sites Companies associated with the North Korean authorities secretly develop and sell a variety of software around the world. This conclusion was reached by the authors of a report published by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the largest non-governmental organization involved in nuclear proliferation. Medusa briefly retells the report of the Center (May 2018)..
- ↑ North Korea to reopen to tourism in Rason
- ↑ Smartphones of North Korea 2024
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |