North Korean Economy Watch

Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Asia Press reported a couple of weeks back about state crackdowns on illegal alcohol sales. It’s interesting that the move is highlighted as an economic measure, t...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2024/01/01/north-korean-state-crackdowns-on-moonshine/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Where does the North Korean economy stand, and where is it going? Kim Jong Un spent some of the last few days of 2023 at the 9th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Worker...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/12/27/the-north-korean-economy-in-2023-2024-still-backing-into-the-future/

By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Daily NK has reported on several occasions on Chinese fishing activities in North Korean waters. Chinese fishers purchase fishing rights from the North Korean gov...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/12/11/why-is-china-cracking-down-on-illegal-fishing-in-north-korea/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Early this morning local time, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in the Russian town of Vladivostok. There, he is scheduled to meet with Russian president V...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/09/12/what-kim-jong-uns-russia-visit-could-mean-for-the-north-korean-economy/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein Recently, the BBC became one of few global outlets to succeed in interviewing ordinary North Koreans inside the country about the food situation. The image is dir...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/06/20/north-korean-market-prices-suggest-serious-food-shortages/

The following article was published in East Asia Forum Quarterly‘s June issue, and is re-published here with permission.  On the surface, sanctions seem to have had little impact on North Kor...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/06/16/missing-the-target-the-complicated-truth-about-sanctions-on-north-korea/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein For the first time since 2020, Russia recently reported oil exports to North Korea in their official trade statistics. These numbers obviously do not include the ...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/06/15/how-large-are-russias-oil-exports-to-north-korea-in-context/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein North Korea–China trade is steadily growing, perhaps slowly moving back to its normal  before Covid-19 -“Maximum pressure” sanctions in 2016–2017. Accord...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/05/24/why-the-north-korea-china-trade-increase-could-be-an-illusion/

By Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein At this point, non-materializing reports about the China–North Korea opening for full traffic are too many to count. A recent story by SCMP (link here) claims bo...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/05/11/yet-another-north-korea-china-border-opening-report-including-tourism/

By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein After a very long hiatus over the pandemic, China’s new ambassador to North Korea has taken up his post in Pyongyang, AP reports: Wang Yajun will help in the d...

https://www.nkeconwatch.com/2023/03/30/as-chinese-ambassador-arrives-is-north-korea-opening-up/