According to a Russian government agency, Russia shipped over a thousand tons of wheat flour to North Korea in April.
Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision, disclosed in a press statement from May 12 that it exported 1,280 tons of wheat flour from Siberia to the DPRK, out of a total of 19,918 tons of exported grain products to six countries, including China.
Last month, the Russian region of Amur claimed it had shipped 2,800 tons of corn to the DPRK, and in January, the Russian border region of Primorsky Krai said it had exported an undisclosed amount of grain to North Korea.
An analysis of satellite imagery by NK News affirmed that cargo trains have been crossing the border between Russia’s Khasan and North Korea’s Tumangang almost every day between May 1 and 11. However, it is unknown what the trains were carrying.
In April, Primorye Oblast Governor Oleg Kozhemyako also recommended that Russian President Vladimir Putin increase economic investment in Russia’s border region with North Korea to overhaul its electricity, road and rail infrastructure, much of which dates back to the Soviet era.
Critical weather and food shortages are putting a strain on North Korea
In recent months, reports have been mounting that North Korea is importing record amounts of rice, corn and wheat from neighboring states. Strict international sanctions over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, the regime’s decision to self-isolate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a poor 2022 harvest and a current spring drought of historic proportions have left the country’s food supply dangerously low.
The full extent of North Korea’s food shortages is unclear, but a 38 North report in Jan. suggested that the country could be facing the worst “complex humanitarian emergency” due to “food insecurity” since the famine in the 1990s. South Korea’s unification ministry also said that the food situation in the North appeared to have “deteriorated“ following a news report that the regime had cut rice rations for the military.
China is estimated to account for more than 90% of the DPRK’s trade. However, since the Russian Federation has been in an existential dispute with the West over Ukraine, Pyongyang and Moscow have sought increased contacts and cooperation.
Both sides profit from a renewed “friendship”
Moscow and Pyongyang may be in the process of re-establishing an alliance that existed during the Cold War but has repeatedly faltered since the demise of the Soviet Union. The two regimes, outlawed by the West, seem intent on the benefits their “friendship” might bring.
The Kremlin’s economic and diplomatic estrangement from much of the international community following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, offers Pyongyang an opportunity to persuade Russia to lift UN-imposed sanctions and, as a favorable trading partner, assist in overcoming food shortages.
Russia, on the other hand, has gained in North Korea an open supporter of its war as well as a grateful trading partner. Not to mention that, by strengthening ties with North Korea, Russia can undermine US influence in its Asian periphery – a shared goal of the two countries.
Edited by Robert Lauler.
