While North Korea-China trade has been surging since the second half of 2025, North Korean trading officials operating overseas have, if anything, less latitude to do their jobs. Traders are coming under redoubled surveillance from North Korean authorities.
When North Korea sends traders overseas to handle exports of local products and imports of goods required by the state, it scrutinizes the people those traders meet and the conversations they have. This close monitoring of every step traders take inevitably has a chilling effect on their activities.
Notably, when the regime wants certain items imported, it gives traders detailed instructions based on online research of product details and the lowest available prices.
In the past, traders would find companies that provided items for a reasonable price and arrange the imports after reporting their plans to authorities. But now, the central government reportedly selects companies with the lowest prices and expects traders to make contracts based on those prices.
That leaves traders with no way to make a profit either for their company or themselves. So traders have been complaining that personal and corporate profit has shrunk even as the scale of trade has expanded.
Since North Korea, China, and Russia are strengthening ties as a new Cold War takes shape, it’s highly likely that North Korean trade with China and Russia will continue to expand. Daily NK took this opportunity to ask North Korean traders what they expect from North Korea’s trade policy in the New Year and what their own goals are for the year.
Daily NK’s interview with a North Korean trading official in his 40s who has been working in China for at least three years is presented below in Q&A format.
Daily NK: What is the greatest difficulty about working as a trader in China?
“It’s a war against prices. Money is the biggest issue. Our supervisors carry out thorough market research. While traders like myself are working here in China and regularly meeting company representatives, officials tapping on keyboards and surfing the internet back in Pyongyang have a better understanding of the price of goods and the corporate situation in China.
“Recently, we received orders from our superiors to import electronic goods. We went around for negotiations with Chinese companies and reached appropriate prices. But when we gave Pyongyang our proposal to import products at those prices, the deal wasn’t approved. Officials in Pyongyang know about the lowest possible prices for those products.
“The fact is, the cheapest products you can find online are going to be cheaper than the ones you get through direct negotiations at factories, and the quality won’t be as good. The cheapest items online aren’t necessarily good products, but our higher-ups force us to import the cheapest stuff.
“This issue has recently become a huge burden for traders operating in China. Since the people in Pyongyang already know the cheapest prices and demand we order goods from companies that offer those prices, there’s not much point in traders even being overseas. No profit can be made when you’re just following orders from Pyongyang. But we’ve got to make a living, too.”
Daily NK: At the end of last year, the scale of trade between North Korea and China grew considerably. I’m curious about whether that trend will continue in the New Year. Are you receiving a lot of import orders in the runup to the Ninth Party Congress?
“State-directed trade has increased substantially. We’re importing a greater variety of products in greater quantities. In fact, we’re importing so much from China you might say there’s nothing we aren’t importing. Nowadays we’ve been importing large volumes of electronic goods, and all the parts in our computers are brought in from China.
“And we’re not only importing Chinese-made products—we’re also importing computers produced in Japan, as well as American products. That suggests the Party really needs those products since American products can’t be handled without its express permission. A lot of automobiles are also being smuggled in through Hunchun. Those shipments recently included Mercedes-Benz cars that cost more than 2 million yuan (around $275,000). So even expensive vehicles are being brought in.”
Daily NK: Do you expect trade with China to expand this year? Or will it stay at the level of previous years?
“I expect that trade volume with China will grow even more this year. Over the past few years, we’ve been doing a lot of trade with Russia, but shipments from Russia have been gradually decreasing. We can import oil and grain from Russia, but hardly any manufactured goods. Amid the prolonged fighting, the products Russia is capable of exporting keep shrinking. So in the end, trade with China is bound to expand.
“Trade representatives also expect trading volume with China will expand this year as our relationship with China improves from last year. For one thing, the government is excited about trade with China and is issuing lots of orders for trade. The authorities seem to think we need to increase trade with China.”
Daily NK: As an overseas trader, is there anything you’re hoping for in the New Year?
“The government is increasing trade, but none of the proceeds are entering the pockets of the people who are actually handling that trade. Too many areas of trade are dominated by the government. Trade can only flourish when the government sets aside more areas for small trading companies and trade representatives to work in. It’s frustrating to be limited to the orders I get from the state.
“Being sent overseas is no longer the privilege it once was. Over the past few years, I’ve been eating into my capital without making a profit. In order to meet the government’s foreign earnings quota, I have to dig into my personal savings. I won’t be able to hold out much longer. I think I’ll have to return home before long.
“The issue is that once you do go back, you have to face a rigorous ideological review where they probe the people you met overseas, the conversations you had and your job performance and check for any contamination from capitalist thought. If any problems crop up in that review, the best you can hope for is being banished to the provinces. Such worries keep many trade representatives from returning home.”
January 17, 2026 at 07:21PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)