Development of bilateral trade and dynamics of the trade balance between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, 2004–2018

For a long time, the USSR was the key economic partner of the DPRK. However, after 1991, the share of the Russian Federation in North Korean foreign trade significantly decreased. Today, Russia is second among the top ten most important economic partners of the DPRK. This article presents a brief overview of the bilateral trade between the Russian Federation and the DPRK for 14 years from 2004 to 2018. Statistical and customs data were gathered from customs agencies of 8 Russian federal districts that are not the constituent units of the country but exist for the operation of main federal government agencies. The article utilizes the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System that is applied by Russian Customs Agencies, also known as the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature. This is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products. Sophisticated methods or specific tools (the gravity equation, partial-equilibrium trade-policy simulation, etc.) were not applied to analyze the trade balance between two countries. The article is not meant to prove an assumption, but rather it is meant to provide a general understanding of the structure and extent of bilateral trade between the Russian Federation and the DPRK