Key Points and Summary – North Korea’s isolated economy has posted its fastest growth in eight years, a surprising 3.7% jump fueled almost entirely by its expanded economic and military cooperation with Russia.
-By supplying Moscow with troops, artillery shells, and other military hardware for the war in Ukraine, Pyongyang has revitalized its heavy chemical and manufacturing sectors.
-This wartime economic boom provides a crucial lifeline for the Kim regime, even as it further solidifies a new anti-Western axis.
-The growth comes as Kim Jong Un makes a rare trip to China for a major military parade alongside Vladimir Putin.
North Korea’s Economic Boom
North Korea has long been thought of as one of the world’s leading economic basket cases, but it appears to have found a formula for economic growth: Military help for Russia in its war with Ukraine.
According to Reuters, North Korea has posted its fastest pace of growth in eight years, according to figures released by South Korea’s Bank of Korea (BOK). The country’s economy grew by 3.7 percent, the report said. This represented the highest rate of growth for North Korea since it jumped 3.9 percent in 2016.
The gains, Reuters said, were “backed by expanded economic ties with Russia.”
North Korea’s strong performance, according to a BOK official during a briefing, is “mainly due to significant increases in manufacturing, construction and mining industries,” which were brought about by North Korea’s involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
BOK also cited “the strengthening of national policy projects domestically, and expansion of economic cooperation between North Korea and Russia externally.”
North Korea’s heavy chemical sector, per the bank, saw double-digit growth.
South Korea’s bank has been publishing data about North Korea’s economy, based on “various sources including intelligence and foreign trading agencies and data from the South’s unification ministry,” since 1991, Reuters said.
North Koreans in Russia
Per CNN, North Korea recently released a 20-minute propaganda video through state media KCTV, aimed at praising its soldiers who have fought on Russia’s side in Ukraine.
The video, per CNN, features “heavily dramatized shots of soldiers on the snow-covered battlefield – handling weapons, holding meetings with Russian soldiers, and installing bombs on trees.” Soldiers in the video are also shown gazing at a portrait of the North Korean leader.
It’s not clear, per CNN, how “real” the footage is in the video.
Citing Western officials, CNN said that it is believed that up to a third of 12,000 soldiers sent from North Korea as part of the initial deployment were either killed or wounded. Kim held two events in August to meet with families of those killed in the war.
Kim in China
The economic numbers were released as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a rare trip out of North Korea, in order to attend a military parade in China to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also scheduled to attend the parade, as is the president of Iran. There is speculation, NBC News reported, that a trilateral meeting might take place among China’s Xi Jinping, Putin, and Kim. NBC also described the military visit as Kim’s “first multilateral event” since he took power upon his father’s death in 2011.
M2020 Tank from North Korea. Image Credit: KCNA/North Korea State Media.
Per NBC News, Kim arrived in Beijing by train, clad in a dark suit.
“Standing side by side with Xi Jinping and Putin on Tiananmen Gate, he will reproduce the triangular solidarity structure of the Cold War era,” South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said in a message to South Korean lawmakers this week, NBC reported.
Another Trump/Kim Meeting?
Donald Trump, during his first term, met on three occasions with Kim, in what were the first meetings between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader in decades. The diplomatic opening was historic, but it never led to any lasting agreement.
In August, Trump announced that he would be willing to resume his diplomacy with Kim, and did so while seated next to the president of South Korea.
The comments came during the first visit to the White House by President Lee Jae-myung, who recently took over as South Korea’s president. Lee offered to “usher in a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula,” and even raised the possibility of a Trump Tower being built in North Korea one day.
“We will do that,” Trump told his South Korean counterpart. “We look forward to meeting with him, and we’ll make relations better.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
More Military
The U.S.-Venezuela War of 2025?
The F-15EX Eagle II Doesn’t Need Your Stealth Pity
