The Mangyongdae Trading Company, a leading North Korean tech company, has reached an agreement with a Chinese high-tech electronics firm to acquire large numbers of critical electronic parts, including semiconductors, Daily NK has learned.
“The agreement was reached in Sinuiju on March 10, with the goal of achieving meaningful results by the end of August,” a source in North Korea told Daily NK recently.
“We’ve always struggled with a shortage of key parts needed to produce mobile phones and equipment for wireless networks. If this agreement can bring us a steady supply of high-quality parts, it will greatly improve our technological level and productivity.”
Under the agreement, the source said, North Korea will provide the Chinese with rare earths in exchange for semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries, display panels and high-quality chipsets.
For North Korea, the agreement represents a meaningful opportunity to strengthen the foundation of its IT and electronics industries, while China essentially secures a stable supply of rare resources. In short, the agreement is a win-win deal for the two countries.
The agreement is particularly notable since North Korea’s state-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun selected Mangyong Trading Company as one of the country’s top ten IT companies in October 2024.
The newspaper described Mangyong Trading Company as a top-rated smartphone producer that had developed smart credit card terminals and wireless network interfaces and trained outstanding computer programmers.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper also said that Mangyong Trading Company and the other companies in the top ten “are highly competitive not only in productivity and technology but also in service, quality control, and supply capacity” and “are in the first rank of companies that are building and reinforcing the foundation for our country’s information revolution.”
“Amid growing interest in our society about information technology, the Workers’ Party appears to be strategically promoting companies selected for their technical capabilities,” the source said.
As part of the same agreement, North Korea and the Chinese firm have agreed on the joint development of a mine in Chongju, North Pyongan province.
“Chinese technicians have already launched a field survey. China is very interested in acquiring rare earths such as neodymium and dysprosium, which are essential minerals for high-tech industries such as electric vehicles and semiconductors,” the source explained.
The agreement also reportedly detailed measures to improve North Korea and China’s logistics and payment systems.
The two countries plan to bring railroad and trucking routes between Dandong and Sinuiju in line with import-export trends and to expand maritime logistics at the ports of Dalian and Nampo.
In connection with payment systems, Beijing and Pyongyang have reportedly agreed to apply a digitally encrypted payment system on a trial basis. This attempt to make payments more anonymous is likely designed to evade sanctions on North Korea, the source surmised.
The Mangyong Trading Company reportedly said in the agreement that it intends to keep increasing strategic cooperation with the Chinese going forward.
April 02, 2025 at 07:45AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)