According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), Sino-North Korean trade has increased 62.4% year-on-year to reach a record high of $5,629,190,000 in 2011. Of this, exports to China increased by 107.4% to $2,464,190,000, and imports increased 38.9% to $3,165,010,000.
At the same time, KITA said inter-Korean trade decreased 10.4% to $1,713,860,000. Of this, South Korea’s exports to North Korea decreased 7.8% to $8,190,000,000 and imports decreased 12.4% to $9,136,600,000. Most of this is related to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, the exporting of raw materials and importing of finished goods.
On this, Dong Yong Seung of Samsung Economic Research Institute told Daily NK, “As the political diary of events relating to this year’s April 15th Day of the Sun increased, the North Korean regime itself needed to secure goods, so exports of coal and imports of oil both increased.”
