North Korea's illuminated area in central Pyongyang has tripled since April 2020, according to the information portal NK News, which attributes the change to the regime prioritizing electricity supply to newly built streets and housing. Analysts and research institutions link the construction activity to income Kim Jong Un's government has earned through military cooperation with Russia, estimated at between $7.7 billion and $14.4 billion by South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy.
North Korea's war revenue from Russia funds Pyongyang construction boom, analysts say
North Korea's illuminated area in central Pyongyang has tripled since April 2020, according to the information portal NK News, which attributes the change to the regime prioritizing electricity supply to newly built streets and housing. Analysts and research institutions link the construction activity to income Kim Jong Un's government has earned through military cooperation with Russia, estimated at between $7.7 billion and $14.4 billion by South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy.
At the 2021 Workers' Party congress, Kim Jong Un announced a plan to build 50,000 new apartments in Pyongyang. Construction has since proceeded, including two 40-story apartment towers in the Hwasong neighborhood designed to resemble Hwasong intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Observers who have visited Pyongyang over an extended period report the city now features imported vehicles including Chinese electric cars, smartphone payment apps with QR codes, taxi-hailing applications, and department stores carrying Western fashion brands and cosmetics.
Additional completed projects include the country's largest hospital and a hothouse described as the size of New York's Central Park. In June 2025, Kim officially opened the Wonsan-Kalma beach resort on the east coast, a five-kilometer stretch with capacity for 20,000 guests. The Wall Street Journal described North Korea in June as the 'world's most unlikely growth story.'
The South Korean Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS) reported in March that North Korea earns between $7.7 billion and $14.4 billion from selling munitions to Russia and deploying troops there. Bloomberg Economics estimated that between 2022 and 2025 North Korea earned more than $14 billion through military support for Russia, along with a further $8 billion from trade with China, the deployment of workers abroad, export activity, and online criminality.
In February 2025, suspected North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum in what was described as one of the world's largest cryptocurrency heists, targeting the ByBit platform. For context, North Korea's entire GDP the previous year was reported at $27 billion.
Kyiv estimates that in 2024 and 2025 North Korea supplied half the munitions Russia used at the front, along with self-propelled guns, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles. Ukraine says North Korea is currently planning to transfer a missile unit to Russia consisting of 90 soldiers, six launch pads, and up to 120 missiles.
Between 16,000 and 22,000 North Korean soldiers are reportedly helping Russia in the Kursk border region, according to the source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Kim intends to station a further 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers in Russia.
According to the INSS report, Russia pays Kim $2,800 per month for each North Korean soldier, $3,000 for an officer, and $6,000 to $10,000 for each soldier killed in action. In exchange for troops and munitions, Russia reportedly supplies North Korea with crude oil, oil products, grain, anti-aircraft systems, and technologies related to drones, missiles, and submarines.
Kim's international standing has also shifted. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Kim in Pyongyang in June 2024. Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited in June 2025, three months after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. In September 2025, Kim attended celebrations in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, alongside Xi and Putin. North Korea has also launched two 5,000-ton destroyers.
At the 2021 party congress, Kim publicly acknowledged that the national economic development strategy had fallen 'far short in almost all sectors.' At the most recent party congress, with seven rows of artillery pieces displayed outside the venue, Kim declared that 'everything has fundamentally changed.'
In spring 2024, Kim announced a '20x10' regional development program aiming to build modern factories in 20 cities or regions each year, producing 200 regional industrial projects over a decade, reportedly to be funded by the new revenue streams.
- North Korea's government has not been quoted or cited as responding to the specific claims about financing sources or troop deployments.
- Russia's government position on the reported payment rates and exchange arrangements is not stated.
- The methodology behind the INSS revenue estimates ($7.7 billion to $14.4 billion) is not described.
- The methodology behind Bloomberg Economics' estimate of more than $14 billion is not described.
- Independent verification of Kyiv's munitions-supply estimates is not provided.
- The number of North Korean soldiers reported killed or wounded in Russia is not given.
- The basis for the reported $2,800, $3,000, and $6,000–$10,000 monthly payment figures is not explained beyond attribution to the INSS report.
- Details on how many of the 50,000 announced apartments have been completed are not provided.
- The source of the $27 billion GDP figure for North Korea is not identified.
- The source text supplied appears truncated; some material may be missing.
Read the original at Deutsche Welle