How Kim Jong Un "Accidentally" Fixed North Korea's Economy

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An estimated 6,000–7,000 North Korean young men became casualties after being sent to fight in a war across the continent.
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Since 2023, North Korea has shipped Russia about 6,700 munitions containers, potentially holding millions of artillery rounds, South Korean intelligence estimates.
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North Korean shipments have supplied up to half of the artillery ammunition Russian forces fired in Ukraine at some points.
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A three-country barter chain links North Korea, Russia, and China: munitions and soldiers move to Russia, resources to China, and development components to North Korea.
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North Korea’s economic boom has one customer, Russia, and depends on one war, making it vulnerable when that war ends.
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A $10 billion export windfall would equal nearly one-third of North Korea’s estimated $32 billion annual gross national income.
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North Korea’s growth began with stockpile liquidation, then expanded into real production, construction, and consumption.
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North Korea’s apparent boom is concentrated among Pyongyang’s elites and residents of a few favored cities, leaving most of the country untouched.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enabled North Korea’s recent boom by creating demand for North Korean military supplies and labor.
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North Korea’s heavy industry grew more than 10%, driven substantially by metal goods produced for export.
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Removing sanctions monitors gives China plausible deniability as cross-border trade with North Korea expands.
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North Korea trades munitions and personnel for food, fuel, fertilizer, construction materials, and alleged technical help on satellites, missiles, and submarines.
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North Korea’s boom could raise living standards for some of its poorest people while being funded by authoritarian regimes and an ongoing war.
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Smartphones, private transport, and tolerated commerce now support services such as app-based meal delivery in Pyongyang.
@money· How Money & Economics Work
GDP measures domestic production in theory, but statisticians estimate it by adding consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports.

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