Russia has transferred about $5.5 billion to the DPRK for arms supplies

North Korea has received about $5.5 billion from the Russian Federation for the arms it has supplied. North Korea's revenues could increase by hundreds of millions of dollars.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to a study by the German Naumann Foundation.

According to the reports studied by the foundation, it is known that even according to the most conservative estimates, the cost of arms supplies from the DPRK to Russia exceeds $ 1.7 billion. At the same time, South Korea estimates North Korea's total economic output at only $23.7 billion.

Reports indicate that if the information about the DPRK sending troops to Ukraine is confirmed, North Korea's revenues could increase by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The foundation also believes that in order not to jeopardize the stability of the DPRK regime and the possibility of North Korean soldiers' escape, the deployment of more than 20,000 soldiers seems unlikely.

According to available documents, Russia and North Korea have become closer since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and official trade between the two countries has increased significantly. In particular, in the first half of 2024, the volume of trade increased to 52.9 million US dollars. For the whole of 2023, it amounted to about USD 34.4 million. This growth indicates that the annual volume of trade between the two countries may return to the level that existed before the tightening of sanctions in 2017.

Such cooperation will also lead to an increase in the number of diplomatic visits between the two countries. This year, there have already been more than 24 of them.

Author - Dmitriy Levchenko, 29/10/2024