it may look like a typical fast-food
joint but the businessman behind this
Singapore based restaurant has made
history in North Korea
he opened the country's first fast food
restaurant in Pyongyang back in 2008 but
who want to do business with North Korea
it's not as unpopular as you think at
least 80 countries traded with North
Korea last year
North Korea continues to be hit by UN
and American sanctions but that hadn't
stopped economic growth in fact its
economy grew at its fastest pace in
nearly two decades last year with its
GDP expanding 3.9 percent surpassing is
neighbor South Korea North Korea's top
trading partners vary depending on which
source you look at but no matter how you
slice the data
North Korea's most important ally is
China the Chinese border town of Dandong
is separated from North Korea by just
half a mile at least 80 percent of North
Korea's trade is with China and
two-thirds of that trade reportedly goes
through the single lane bridge
connecting the two countries coalesce
North Korea's largest export and last
year China bought 1.2 billion dollars
worth of it the Chinese also have a huge
appetite for a seafood which is
perceived to be cleaner and tastier in
the first half of this year alone the
Chinese bought almost 100 million
dollars worth of seafood China has been
putting more pressure on its neighbor
it's suspended : ports and bend facts
from providing financial services to
North Korea in September
Chinese sanctions began to bite Chinese
imports of coal was down more than 70
percent while exports of patrol fell by
almost a hundred percent sino in Koreans
highs seem to be cooling when North
Korean leader Kim jong-un sent lunar new
year greetings this year the first card
didn't go to Chinese leaders but instead
to Russian president
Russia and North Korea go way back the
Soviet Union made up half of North
Korean trade for almost 30 years until
it collapsed in the 1990s but Russia is
ramping up its involvement it announced
in 2015 that wants to increase trade
with North Korea tenfold to a billion
dollars by 2020 but they aren't quite
there yet bilateral trade between the
two countries decreased from 2013 to
2016 but in the first quarter of this
year
Russia's trade with North Korea more
than doubled to thirty one point four
million year on year President Vladimir
Putin recently said Russia exports
40,000 tons of oil to North Korea a
quarter so that's about 160,000 and year
that's a fraction compared to China but
also more than four times what the UN
estimated for Russia in 2015 but it's
not just limited to trade Siberia faces
persistent labor shortages enter North
Korean labor the US State Department
estimates that around 20,000 North
Koreans are sent to Russia to work for
Russian companies making an estimated a
hundred and seventy million dollars for
the regime it's estimated that more than
50,000 North Korean workers are employed
in foreign countries mostly in Russia
and China but also in countries like
Qatar Malaysia and Poland
North Korea's estimated to make 1.2
billion
and 2.3 billion dollars annually from
exported labor North Korea is big on
defense so maybe it's no surprise that
it sells weapons to a vast global
network sources estimate that North
Korea made 300 million dollars in arms
sales in 2015 and its list of clients is
large and varied the UN intercepted two
North Korean arms shipments to the
Syrian government this year as well as
30,000 grenades to Egypt other North
Korean customers include Iran and Yemen
another important piece of the North
Korean money-making machine is Africa
goods traded with North Korea across
Africa
amount to more than 100 million dollars
annually
the UN is investigating seven African
countries for possible violations of its
sanctions on North Korea ranging from
military training to weapons sales in
the midst of a lot of this activity
seems to be North Korean owned
enterprise month today overseas projects
which is behind several huge
construction projects across Africa
building everything from ammunition
factories the apartment blocks to giant
statues the UN estimates that tens of
millions are being made by monster day
in Africa it's clear that North Korea is
eager to drum up new business it even
published a new guide on its investment
and business environment but as
geopolitical tension grows and more
countries have spent trade with the
communist States North Korea's business
ambitions may have to stay put hi thanks
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