North Korea's dependence on trade with China is as high as 91.8%

       According to a report released by the Korea trade association on December 1, north Korea is increasingly dependent on China for trade, with China accounting for 91.8 percent of north Korea's foreign trade in 2018, up from 5.3 times in 2001. Tungsten and other products have replaced anthracite as north Korea's main exports.

According to the report, the three koreas are more competitive than complementary. Although South Korea was once north Korea's second largest trading partner, trade volumes were virtually zero in 2017-18 due to the shutdown of the kaesong industrial park and the tightening of sanctions against the north. North Korea's dependence on trade with China is as high as 91.8%, Tungsten is one of the main export products.



In 2001, the highest proportion of north Korea's foreign trade was Japan (30.1%), followed by China (17.3%) and South Korea (8.8%). China topped the list in 2010 with 45.3 percent, followed by South Korea (25 percent) and India (7.5 percent), thanks to Japan's unilateral sanctions against the north and the opening of the kaesong industrial complex, which boosted inter-korean trade.

But since the closure of the kaesong complex in 2016 and the tightening of international sanctions, China accounted for 91.8 percent of north Korea's foreign trade last year, followed by India (1.4 percent) and Russia (1.3 percent).



According to statistics from the United Nations, the world trade organization and other international agencies, in 2001, there were 130 trading partners for north Korea. After that, the number of trade partners continued to rise to over 150. From 2001 to 2018, the top 10 destinations for north Korea's foreign trade were China (50.3%), South Korea (17.8%), India (4.7%), Japan (3.4%), Thailand (2.7%), Brazil (2.4%), Russia (1.9%), Germany (1.2%), Singapore (1%) and Saudi Arabia (1%).



During the same period, the largest exports of the DPRK were anacite coal (18.8%), iron ore (4.2%), men's winter coat (2.1%), women's winter coat (1.7%) and heavy oil (1.7%), while the largest imports were crude oil (7.2%), heavy oil (3.7%) and diesel oil (3.6%). The anthracite coal that has dominated north Korea's exports over the past year has been replaced by watches, ferrosilicon, wigs, injection molding machines and tungsten as sanctions have intensified. From the import situation, the order is soybean oil, nitrogen fertilizer, synthetic fabric, flour and so on.



Trade associations say north Korea's trading partners and imports and exports have changed as the external environment has changed. Trade with South Korea, Japan and India is expected to increase if sanctions against the DPRK are partially eased or lifted.

It is learned that up to now, more than 360 kinds of natural minerals have been identified in the Korean region, among which the mineral deposits with economic development value account for about 80% of the land area, and more than 200 kinds of economically useful minerals. Other minerals in the top 10 are tungsten, molybdenum, graphite, barite, fluorite and 7 others. According to the Korea mineral resources corporation, the DPRK has 250,000 tons of tungsten ore.