North Korea has earned up to $14 billion from military support for Russia. Dictator Kim Jong-un uses these means to consolidate his power, but also to modernize the country.
After years of satellite images showing how almost nothing lights up at night in North Korea due to a lack of electricity, a major change has been visible in the last six years: the illuminated areas in the center of Pyongyang have doubled, and the intensity of lighting has tripled.
The information portal NK News sees this as evidence that the regime has made lighting the streets and buildings in the center of the capital a priority to highlight its achievements. In 2021, head of state Kim Jong-un announced that 50,000 new homes would be built in Pyongyang. This plan is already underway, with 40-story blocks being built.
"The Greatest Economic Success"
The new skyscrapers are not the only sign of North Korea's growing prosperity. According to eyewitnesses, Pyongyang looks more modern - with many imported cars, including electric cars from China, smartphone applications for QR code payments and taxi ordering, as well as shopping malls with Western fashion and beauty brands.
In addition, the regime has completed construction in Pyongyang of the country's largest hospital and a greenhouse the size of New York's Central Park. In 2025, a five-kilometer seaside resort for 20,000 guests was opened on the east coast. In June, the “Wall Street Journal" has described North Korea as the "world's greatest economic success."
The lucrative military deals with Russia
The dictatorship has financed its sudden rise largely through the high revenues from its participation in Russia's war against Ukraine. According to data from the South Korean Institute for National Security Strategy as of March, North Korea earned between $7.7 billion and $14.4 billion from arms sales to Moscow and the sending of troops. “Bloomberg” in turn estimates that military support for Russia between 2022 and 2025 brought Pyongyang more than $14 billion.
Another eight billion came from trade with China, sending North Korean workers abroad, exports and cybercrime. In the world's largest attack on the Bybit platform in February 2025, for example, North Korean hackers are believed to have stolen $1.5 billion from the Ethereum network, a network with its own virtual currency. For comparison: last year, North Korea's GDP was $27 billion.
Kim: "Everything has changed"
Kim's new role as a supporter of Russia has brought him more political importance and military power, which was seen in the launch of two 5,000-ton destroyers. In his 15-year rule, the autocrat has never had such influence and such means.
The turnaround is remarkable: During the pandemic, Kim lost weight and in early 2021, he tearfully admitted to his party congress that "almost all economic factors have fallen short of expectations." At the next congress five years later, he triumphed and said: "Everything has changed fundamentally."
Thanks to the partnership with Russia, North Korea lost its status as a pariah in world politics and overcame its isolation. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kim in Pyongyang in June 2024, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in June this year, three months after Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Kim took part, along with Xi and Putin, in the celebrations for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Beijing in September 2025.
Sending soldiers also brings income
It is not known whose idea it was to use North Korea's huge ammunition reserves for Russia's war against Ukraine
- whether it was Russia's or North Korea's. But according to Ukrainian sources, between 2024 and 2025, North Korea provided half of Russia's ammunition needs for the front, as well as self-propelled guns, multi-purpose rocket launchers and ballistic missiles. Currently, according to Ukrainian information, North Korea is planning to transfer a missile unit with 90 soldiers, six launchers and up to 120 missiles to Russia for the war against Ukraine.
Between 16,000 and 22,000 North Korean soldiers have already assisted Russia by attacking Ukraine from the Kursk direction and clearing the area of mines. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Kim now wants to deploy between 30,000 and 50,000 more troops in Russia. This brings in very good income: it is estimated that Kim receives $2,800 per month per soldier, $3,000 per officer, and between $6,000 and $10,000 for each fallen soldier.
As in Soviet times, bilateral trade is largely based on barter: in exchange for ammunition, weapons, and soldiers, North Korea receives crude oil and petroleum products, grain, and military technology from Moscow.
Not everyone enjoys the prosperity
However, the rise in North Korea remains invisible to large segments of the population, experts say. Rising food prices and the depreciation of the local currency are affecting many poorer households that do not have access to foreign currency. In many families, women now have to work to maintain living standards.
In the spring of 2024, Kim announced a program for the development of regions outside the capital - with large-scale intentions to build modern factories and implement 200 industrial projects. However, most of them will not be implemented, says North Korea expert Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul. “The reason is that the factories not only lack infrastructure, but also lack mechanisms for the supply of electricity, raw materials and spare parts.”