Via East Asia Forum, commentary on North Korea’s economic challenges: COVID-19 came at a tough time for North Korea, both economically and politically, and may have made a bad situation worse. While China’s sanctions implementation has let up somewhat, North Korea’s economic situation still became strikingly dire in 2020. As elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 […]
Read more »Via National Interest, a report on North Korea’s resource potential: North Korea could be loaded. However, without the enough financing and the right tools and expertise, it cannot use its resources or try to (illegally) sell them. Who needs rockets when you have $10 trillion in resource riches? That is one estimate of the value […]
Read more »Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, an article on how Kim Jong Un’s regime has further isolated the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and trade with China has plunged: North Korea’s all-out push to halt the coronavirus has exacted a brutal blow to its already-tattered economy, contributing to a slide that will likely be the […]
Read more »Via North Korea Economic Watch, commentary on some recent events suggesting a North Korean government crackdown against the market economy: Is the North Korean government cracking down on the market economy as such? I would argue that we are not quite there yet, but an ever-increasing number of news seem to be suggesting that economic policy […]
Read more »Via North Korean Economy Watch, commentary on the current state of North Korea’s economy: Sanctions and Covid-19 have fused together to put the North Korean economy in what can only reasonably be described as an awful situation. Trade first plummeted through sanctions, and then even further because of North Korea’s and China’s anti-Covid19 measures. And […]
Read more »Via CNN, an interesting report on how North Korea might be making millions — and breaking sanctions — selling sand: It was May of last year when Lucas Kuo and Lauren Sung noticed something strange: more than 100 ships gathering in the waters near Haeju, North Korea. As part of their work at the Washington-based Center […]
Read more »