hankyoreh

By Hwangbo Yon

China accounted for more than 80 percent of North Korea’s foreign trade in 2010.

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced Friday that North Korean trade with China increased by 29.3 percent from $2.68 billion in 2009 to $3.47 billion in 2010. The percentage of overall North Korean trade with China rose sharply from 78.5 percent to 83 percent over the same period, marking the first time China has accounted for more than 80 percent of North Korea’s trade.

The total scale of North Korean external trade increased from $3.41 billion in 2009 to $4.17 billion in 2010.

A KOTRA official said, “The increase in North Korea’s trade owes itself to an increase in exports of minerals, steel, and so forth in order to overcome a foreign currency shortage stemming from international sanctions.”

“As sanctions against North Korea continue, the preponderance of trade with China will increase further,” the official predicted.

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