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News & Current Events May 11, 2026 at 9:18 AM

North Korea earned half of its GDP from supporting Russia's war against Ukraine

Posted by SilentSanctuarys


North Korea earned half of its GDP from supporting Russia's war against Ukraine
Ukrainska Pravda
North Korea earned half of its GDP from supporting Russia's war against Ukraine
Over three years, North Korea received from Russia an amount equal to half of the country’s annual GDP in exchange for weapons and troops.

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PanneKopp 2 days ago +658
trading citizens lives for white horses
658
Donc-qui-et-Quand64 2 days ago +62
Don't forget about the millions of artillery shells, hundreds of missiles, self-propelled howitzers and missile launch systems, etc. Last year about nearly half of the shells fired by Russia were North Korean. It's a massive amount of materiel they've been amassing for decades.
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SeaworthinessSome454 1 day ago +1
Too bad it all sucks and is unreliable, which is one of many reasons why Russia is fumbling this so hard.
1
Beautiful_Might_1516 1 day ago +4
Nah. It works just as well as any long term storage. Issue just is there is equal war going on. Both sides being equal in stalemate
4
Kind_Singer_7744 1 day ago +1
Dude the dud rate on north Korean shells was sky high. They kept their munitions for decades past their use by date in poor conditions
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Beautiful_Might_1516 9 hr ago +1
just like russians. difference is non existing between their reserve ammos.
1
Mobile-Base7387 1 day ago +1
the amount of propellant in nk artillery shells has been extremely inconsistent.  makes dialing in the range a futile process... this one too close, change elevation, next one even shorter, change elevation, too far now wat 
1
Wayofchinchilla 2 days ago +22
I'm sure that won't backfire.
22
neverpost4 2 days ago +155
South Korea's involvement in the Vietnam War was a massive turning point that essentially underwrote the "Miracle on the Han River." While the official reason for sending troops was to stop the spread of communism, the economic incentives provided by the United States were the real engine behind the decision
155
Copperbelt1 1 day ago +5
Honestly, seems like it would not take much for an economy like N Korea to be impacted by sales of arms and soldiers.
5
gao7on 2 days ago +57
Powerful men of great wealth causing so much suffering and deaths for people they lead. The history of human civilizations in a nutshell.
57
BanForLife1 2 days ago +147
I imagine their gdp has to be like Iceland or Slovenia :D
147
WaffleHouseGladiator 2 days ago +96
Google says $26-$32 billion USD.  Ouch.
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thunderlips_oz 2 days ago +85
Wow. Compared to South Korea's projected 2026 GDP of $1.93 trillion.
85
Dyolf_Knip 2 days ago +64
Even Wyoming's is $50B.
64
TheDarthSnarf 2 days ago +38
Vermont has the lowest GDP of any US State... at $48 Billion...still significantly more than North Korea. And, Vermont is able to do that with only 1/40th the population of North Korea.
38
jaquesparblue 1 day ago +22
Not really comparable. Vermont's GDP is backed by the value of the USD. You need to look at GDP as PPP, then NK is at least twice Vermont. And even then the value of the USD plays a role, being part of the Union, being part of the international community in ways NK.. well not dream, but isn't.
22
Educational_Fun_3843 1 day ago +2
You joke bruh? Vermont is mostly supported by internal tourism
2
iwasuncoolonce 2 days ago +53
Did hear about North Koreans working Remotely for US companys. Maybe we can help boost that.
53
sloopywettoppyswife 2 days ago +39
They are working in Europe for years now https://youtu.be/SPjKs8NuY4s
39
Mr_ToDo 2 days ago +13
My understanding is that most of their income previously had come from various scams and insurance fraud abroad. It's nice to see them moving into more legitimate income sources :|
13
blackfocal 2 days ago +6
Yea so they can steal corporate secrets.
6
iwasuncoolonce 2 days ago +1
The internet is extremely regulated, I hope they get online and realize they need to get updated with global trade And other things, they really need to be on Listnook
1
blackfocal 1 day ago +1
I mean the Russians introduced them to p***.
1
iwasuncoolonce 1 day ago +1
Oh yeah that's right. I'm sure there's going to be a p*** revolution,first one ever.
1
bucarcar 2 days ago +26
Slovenia's GDP is $86.73 billion btw Albania is $33.33 billion North Macedonia $21.6 billion Kosovo is $14.1 billion
26
nolok 2 days ago +20
That's 8.2 million people for a GDP of $155.76 billion If you add Iceland it's 8.6 million people for a GDP of $190.76 billion North Korea is 26.6 million people (3x more) for a gdp of $32 billion (6x less)
20
Interesting_Pen_167 2 days ago +4
Wow worse than Albania holy shit I had no idea it was that bad. I guess a lot of it is due to low purchasing power but still.
4
1250Rshi 1 day ago +1
Interesting comparison as Albania once upon a time was like North Korea. Building bunkers and shit!
1
drleondarkholer 2 days ago +5
And Iceland is 35 billion usd. Still, these countries all have a fraction of North Korea's population. 
5
JoviAMP 2 days ago +10
NK has half the GDP of Wyoming ($52 billion) with 52 times the population.
10
johnnygrant 2 days ago +5
That's the money some corporations spend on frivolities for tax writeoffs
5
SpezSucksSamAltman 1 day ago +1
**OOF.** So poor. Disgusting.
1
cinyar 2 days ago +8
Slovenia? I imagine they have more GDP money from tourism than Best Korea has altogether.
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lukethedank13 2 days ago +17
Nope they are nowhere near. Iceland has a gdp of 28.7 billion and Slovenija 63.2 billion.
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E_Kristalin 2 days ago +12
So, North Korea (population 25m) is quite close to Iceland(population 0.3m)
12
lukethedank13 2 days ago +15
Trully the most prosperous nation in the world. Only comparable to economic powerhouses the like of south sudan.
15
tjc103 2 days ago +4
Or Burkina Faso. The first formerly French colonized nation in the south of the Sahara to natively produce tomato concentrate.
4
ssgtg 1 day ago +2
Slovenia's GDP per capita is higher than Lithuania's. So is Iceland's. By a lot.
2
whorificustotalus 1 day ago +1
No, a lot less, they're down towards the bottom with Lithuania.
1
Glaucous 2 days ago +70
War profiteering is an evil.
70
mhornberger 2 days ago +19
*War* is evil. But if we have war, there are going to be weapons, and someone is going to make a buck providing them. Whether that be artillery, jets, or bows and arrows. Edit: I'd amend what I said to war being a necessary evil. By which I'm quoting Curtis Lemay, hardly a pacifist.
19
[deleted] 2 days ago +2
[deleted]
2
mhornberger 2 days ago +3
> War isn’t evil. It's sometimes a necessary evil. I don't mean defense is evil, and I'm not a pacifist, but Ukraine being forced to kill Russians is not something I can celebrate. Even though I'm rooting for Ukraine, I still am wary about that part of myself that wants to fist-pump and glory a little in vids of Russians being killed via drones. Curtis Lemay, hardly a pacifist, called war a necessary evil. There are two words there. It being necessary doesn't make it not evil, and it being evil doesn't make it not necessary.
3
That-Interaction-45 2 days ago +14
They don't publish this info, so they are guessing.
14
Front_Promise_5991 2 days ago +25
Hahaha what a strange times we have. After invasion to Ukraine, war in Iran and etc Kim Jung Un looks one of the sane dictators/leaders :DDD
25
jimicus 2 days ago +51
Not really. If half his GDP comes from that war, he’s absolutely got to encourage Putin to continue it.
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EltonBeans 2 days ago +16
Russia would still need to restock after the war. North Korea could help them with that. Russia would also try to become a bigger arms exporter again. If North Korea can't sell affordable weapons and ammunition to other countries (like in Africa), they could still sell it to Russia and they sell it to others 
16
Front_Promise_5991 2 days ago -1
Idk. Under sanctions he still found some ways to make some money
-1
Khuros 2 days ago +12
Checks out for Listnook
12
enterthehawkeye 2 days ago +6
>North Korea updates constitution to require automatic nuclear strike if Kim Jong Un is assassinated (2 days ago) no
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Front_Promise_5991 2 days ago -3
It is sarcasm from me.
-3
daniel_22sss 2 days ago +5
How is he sane if he's actively partaking in the Ukraine invasion?
5
Front_Promise_5991 2 days ago -4
Getting some tech, experience. Gladly Ukrainians are killing them ( occupants ).
-4
danisindeedfat 2 days ago +5
No he doesn’t
5
sauroden 2 days ago +2
They are likely spinning this as supporting Russia doubled N. Korea’s gdp.
2
Terrible-Group-9602 1 day ago +2
So basically without NK, Russia would be clearly losing the war right now or already have lost.
2
Feuertotem 2 days ago +1
How is this a real country?
1
rrrand0mmm 1 day ago +1
It’s the Michael Scott meme.
1
Spoztoast 1 day ago +1
A doubling of a small number is still a small number
1
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