North Korea looking to expand foreign trade, turning to EU and BRICS

Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES) 

North Korea is seeking to expand its foreign trade by turning to the EU and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) for cooperation.

In the recently published book Looking at Today’s Choson from 100 Questions and 100 Answers, North Korea emphasized the importance of cooperation with EU and BRICS, saying it will “seek various ways to expand its foreign trade.”

The book noted that with the upcoming Pyongyang International Trade Fair (PITF) in May and September, North Korea is looking for grounds to engage in foreign trade to “further the cooperation with many countries around the world.”

The book also stated that North Korea is engaging in a wide range of international trade such as economic cooperation and looking into cooperative business models with Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa as well as with international and regional economic organizations such as the EU and BRICS.

However, seeing as the book does not specify detailed ways in which North Korea will take to cooperate with the EU and BRICS, the plan appears as a mere hope.

While the book admitted the difficulty in building an economically strong country while facing the sanctions imposed by the international community, it emphasized that “it [North Korea] is putting its effort in expanding international trade to directly penetrate the sanctions to build a strong socialist state.”

The book also noted that the diversification of active foreign trade will enable “the expansion of width and depth of distribution through dealing with more countries on various industries on many accounts.” The diversification in this context refers to the people in charge of trade and the methods of trade.

Continuing on the idea of diversification, the book mentioned that “not only does the diversification of foreign trade not contradict itself with the independence of national economic stability, but it actually is an important asset in developing the ability of economic independence and its capability,” meaning that diversification should be a key foundation in building an independent economy.

The book explained that the independence of economy is the enhancement of people’s identity and independence that is linked to the domestication of materials. Therefore, beginning with coke (coal) gasification, Juche-iron, Juche-refractory material production line, Juche-fertilizer, and Juche-textile production line will be completed, for instance.

According to the book, this will be the core foundation in speeding up economic development in association with the domestic materials parring with international market prices to stay in market competition. It also stated that this is “not only a matter of economic efficiency, but also a fierce fight against enemy states in the war of defending socialism.”

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