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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 May 11, 2026 +658
trading citizens lives for white horses
658
Donc-qui-et-Quand64 May 11, 2026 +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.
62
SeaworthinessSome454 May 12, 2026 +1
Too bad it all sucks and is unreliable, which is one of many reasons why Russia is fumbling this so hard.
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Beautiful_Might_1516 May 12, 2026 +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
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Kind_Singer_7744 May 12, 2026 +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
1
Beautiful_Might_1516 May 13, 2026 +1
just like russians. difference is non existing between their reserve ammos.
1
Mobile-Base7387 May 12, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +22
I'm sure that won't backfire.
22
neverpost4 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +147
I imagine their gdp has to be like Iceland or Slovenia :D
147
WaffleHouseGladiator May 11, 2026 +96
Google says $26-$32 billion USD.  Ouch.
96
thunderlips_oz May 11, 2026 +85
Wow. Compared to South Korea's projected 2026 GDP of $1.93 trillion.
85
Dyolf_Knip May 11, 2026 +64
Even Wyoming's is $50B.
64
TheDarthSnarf May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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.
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Educational_Fun_3843 May 12, 2026 +2
You joke bruh? Vermont is mostly supported by internal tourism
2
iwasuncoolonce May 11, 2026 +53
Did hear about North Koreans working Remotely for US companys. Maybe we can help boost that.
53
sloopywettoppyswife May 11, 2026 +39
They are working in Europe for years now https://youtu.be/SPjKs8NuY4s
39
Mr_ToDo May 11, 2026 +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 :|
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blackfocal May 11, 2026 +6
Yea so they can steal corporate secrets.
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iwasuncoolonce May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +1
I mean the Russians introduced them to p***.
1
iwasuncoolonce May 11, 2026 +1
Oh yeah that's right. I'm sure there's going to be a p*** revolution,first one ever.
1
bucarcar May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +1
Interesting comparison as Albania once upon a time was like North Korea. Building bunkers and shit!
1
drleondarkholer May 11, 2026 +5
And Iceland is 35 billion usd. Still, these countries all have a fraction of North Korea's population. 
5
JoviAMP May 11, 2026 +10
NK has half the GDP of Wyoming ($52 billion) with 52 times the population.
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johnnygrant May 11, 2026 +5
That's the money some corporations spend on frivolities for tax writeoffs
5
SpezSucksSamAltman May 11, 2026 +1
**OOF.** So poor. Disgusting.
1
cinyar May 11, 2026 +8
Slovenia? I imagine they have more GDP money from tourism than Best Korea has altogether.
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lukethedank13 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +12
So, North Korea (population 25m) is quite close to Iceland(population 0.3m)
12
lukethedank13 May 11, 2026 +15
Trully the most prosperous nation in the world. Only comparable to economic powerhouses the like of south sudan.
15
tjc103 May 11, 2026 +4
Or Burkina Faso. The first formerly French colonized nation in the south of the Sahara to natively produce tomato concentrate.
4
ssgtg May 11, 2026 +2
Slovenia's GDP per capita is higher than Lithuania's. So is Iceland's. By a lot.
2
whorificustotalus May 12, 2026 +1
No, a lot less, they're down towards the bottom with Lithuania.
1
Glaucous May 11, 2026 +70
War profiteering is an evil.
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mhornberger May 11, 2026 +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] May 11, 2026 +2
[deleted]
2
mhornberger May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +14
They don't publish this info, so they are guessing.
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Front_Promise_5991 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 +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 
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Front_Promise_5991 May 11, 2026 -1
Idk. Under sanctions he still found some ways to make some money
-1
Khuros May 11, 2026 +12
Checks out for Listnook
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enterthehawkeye May 11, 2026 +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 May 11, 2026 -3
It is sarcasm from me.
-3
daniel_22sss May 11, 2026 +5
How is he sane if he's actively partaking in the Ukraine invasion?
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Front_Promise_5991 May 11, 2026 -4
Getting some tech, experience. Gladly Ukrainians are killing them ( occupants ).
-4
danisindeedfat May 11, 2026 +5
No he doesn’t
5
sauroden May 11, 2026 +2
They are likely spinning this as supporting Russia doubled N. Korea’s gdp.
2
Terrible-Group-9602 May 11, 2026 +2
So basically without NK, Russia would be clearly losing the war right now or already have lost.
2
Feuertotem May 11, 2026 +1
How is this a real country?
1
rrrand0mmm May 11, 2026 +1
It’s the Michael Scott meme.
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Spoztoast May 12, 2026 +1
A doubling of a small number is still a small number
1
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