The North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un secured up to $22 billion in foreign revenue between 2022 and 2025, largely driven by the mass export of munitions and troops to sustain Russia’s war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. The staggering sum, which nearly quadruples Pyongyang’s revenue from the preceding four-year period, has provided Kim with unprecedented financial leverage despite severe United Nations sanctions.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “North Korea is in a stronger position than at any time in the last 35 years,” Andrei Lankov, a specialist in Korean studies and director of Korea Risk Group, told Bloomberg. Lankov likened the massive arms sales to Russia to winning the lottery, noting that the renewed support from Beijing and Moscow has effectively insulated the regime. When Moscow faced critical ammunition shortages following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Pyongyang’s vast domestic stockpiles of Soviet-era artillery became a highly lucrative resource. According to Ukrainian intelligence, North Korea supplied up to 50% of Russia’s requirements for 122mm and 152mm artillery shells by the end of 2025. Furthermore, Pyongyang generated significant revenue by deploying between 16,000 and 22,000 military personnel to Russia, receiving an estimated $2,000 per month for each soldier. Additional payments were reportedly made to the regime for troops killed in action. The Bank of Korea estimates that the influx of Russian cash and commodities spurred a 3.5% growth in the North Korean economy in 2025, marking the third consecutive year of economic expansion.