North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is spending the money that his troops have earned fighting in Ukraine to fund a long wish list of projects that were previously beyond his financial reach.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service estimated in May that Pyongyang received a minimum of $7.7 billion (€6.6 billion) in financial aid and economic value from Russia in the preceding three years for committing men and materiel to Moscow's war against Ukraine — and potentially as much as $14 billion.
That is a significant amount given that the North's GDP for 2024 stood at $26.6 billion.
Kim's support for Russia has been lucrative, and a slew of reports are now identifying where that money is being spent.
A portion of the funds is being put aside for the Regional Development 20x10 Policy, unveiled in January 2024 and which aims to construct modern industrial facilities in 20 regional cities per year for the next 10 years to improve living standards outside Pyongyang.Why a new Russia-North Korea road bridge worries UkraineTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
