North Korea and Russia deepen economic ties - FT
After the agreement between the DPRK and Russia on a strategic partnership, commercial cooperation between the two dictatorial countries has reached a new level.
This is reported by the Financial Times, Censor.NET informs.
North Korean apples have begun to appear on the shelves of Russian supermarkets, and exporters from the DPRK are planning to enter the Russian market.
Also, according to the publication, North Korean fishing vessels are increasingly appearing in the waters off the Russian Far East coast, and manufacturers of products from the DPRK, from jam and sausages to beer and accordions, have registered trademarks in Russia.
It is noted that the Russian Federation is building a $100 million road bridge across the Tyumen River along the land border of the countries, and plans are being developed to restore a 10,000-kilometer rail link between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Over the past year, North Korean university leaders have traveled to Vladivostok to meet with their Russian counterparts, North Korean athletes have competed in Russia, and Russian theater companies have performed in Pyongyang.
All of the above steps indicate a deepening of cooperation between the two countries, which was previously limited to the military sector.
North Korea's economy is largely dependent on the production of coal, concrete, and industrial plastics and is supported by food, fuel, and fertilizer supplies from China. Recently, the DPRK regime has received hundreds of millions of US dollars through sophisticated hacker attacks on crypto wallets.
Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute think tank, believes that Moscow's patronage could have a "truly transformative" impact on North Korea's economy by reviving the mining and agricultural sectors.
In turn, Andrey Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, believes that trade is likely to bring Russia limited financial benefits, as North Korean goods are of little or no interest to Russian importers.
The publication writes that in addition to commercial ties, the military partnership between the countries will give Russia and the DPRK more opportunities to resist Western pressure even after the fighting in Ukraine stops.
