After all the twists and turns, it turns out that North Korea is the real big winner! According to Japanese media reports on July 14, South Korea's National Institute for Security Strategy estimates that North Korea’s weapons exports to Russia will reach as high as $13.78 billion between summer 2023 and end-2025—a two-year period. Furthermore, North Korea is expected to begin deploying troops to Russia starting in autumn 2024, with related costs projected to exceed $600 million.

Japanese media noted that combined, these two figures amount to over 80% of North Korea’s nominal GDP in 2024 ($17.2 billion, according to UN statistics). Through supplying weapons to Russia, North Korea is experiencing a unique economic boom driven by special demand. It must be acknowledged that, from South Korea’s data perspective, North Korea is undoubtedly one of the winners of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Given North Korea’s current international situation, this revenue is extremely significant. The reality is clear: North Korea has long been under comprehensive international sanctions, suffers from severe foreign exchange shortages, and has had its external trade channels persistently blocked by the U.S. and Western countries. Conventional foreign trade struggles to secure stable U.S. dollar reserves. However, arms trade with Russia clearly provides a major boost to North Korea’s foreign exchange reserves.

The weapons exported by North Korea to Russia are highly compatible. North Korea’s vast stockpiles of ammunition, rocket launchers, and KN-series short-range ballistic missiles form the absolute core of its arms trade—perfectly filling the massive ammunition gap caused by Russia’s prolonged attrition warfare. These supplies have become a crucial support for sustaining Russian frontline firepower. From the standpoint of North Korea and Russia alone, this arrangement is clearly mutually beneficial. After years of war, it’s truly unexpected that North Korea has emerged as a winner in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870698519694603/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author