South Korean intelligence services estimate that Pyongyang has earned 13 billion dollars over the past three years from providing military assistance to Russia in the war in Ukraine, reported on Monday by the publication Nikkei Asia, quoted by The Moscow Times.
If confirmed, the sum represents a major financial gain for North Korea, which does not publish statistical data in this regard. UN estimates place the communist country’s gross domestic product at 17.2 billion dollars, while the central bank of South Korea has estimated it at 25.3 billion dollars.
In exchange for providing arms and troops, it is believed that Pyongyang has received currency, energy resources, and critical military technologies, which has helped the regime to evade international sanctions.
Russia and North Korea have intensified relations in the context of the war in Ukraine, and in 2024 they signed a mutual defense treaty, which obliges them to provide military support in case one of them is attacked.
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