Archive for the ‘North Korea’ Category

North Korea Wants More Control Over Farming Amid Food Shortage

Via The Diplomat, a report that – as prospects for quickly resolving its food insecurity are dim – North Korea is restricting the operation of markets and devoting much of its scarce resources to its nuclear program: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to strengthen state control over agriculture and take a spate of […]

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In North Korea, Almighty US Dollar Still Reigns Supreme

Via NK News, commentary on how repeated currency reforms have eroded trust in the DPRK won, making foreign money essential for many transactions: North Korea has long allowed an unusual degree of private trade in foreign currency for a communist bloc country, and a new study has shone a light on just how common it […]

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North Korea Mines New Revenue Sources in Its Trade With China

Via The Diplomat, a report on the latest data which shows Pyongyang is continuing to adapt to U.N. sanctions, while trade is beginning to rebound from pandemic lows: North Korea has spent much of the pandemic financing its weapons programs and imports with stolen cryptocurrency. However, with trade between North Korea and China expanding in 2022, there […]

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Russia, China: Bringing North Korea In From The Economic ‘Cold’?

Courtesy of East Asia Forum, a look at North Korea and the potential for improved economic growth in 2023: At the beginning of 2022, North Korea’s strategic position looked bleak. The regime clung to its zero-COVID claim, leading to an almost total closure of the border with China and bringing trade to record lows. There were strong indications that […]

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North Korean Famine: Worst Since 1990s

Via 38North, a report on the growing famine in North Korea: North Korea is dealing with a complex humanitarian emergency that has food insecurity at its core.[1] As of August 2022, both quantity and price data point to a deteriorating situation, made worse by the regime’s choice to self-isolate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Food […]

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North Korea’s Shadow IT Industry

Via The Diplomat, an article on how North Korea earns foreign currency through a shadow IT industry: The South Korean government recently announced a warning regarding North Korea IT personnel with the goal of preventing North Korea from earning foreign currency through cyberspace. North Korean IT personnel reportedly account for a growing portion of the country’s […]

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Wildcats & Black Sheep is a personal interest blog dedicated to the identification and evaluation of maverick investment opportunities arising in frontier - and, what some may consider to be, “rogue” or “black sheep” - markets around the world.

Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.