How does a country like Nort Korea seem to have endless money for its army and develop nuclear weapons despite being one of the most sanctionned country in the world?
In: 1447
You would be suprised at how much a modern nation can accomplish if they divert their entire economy to something specific, even a small weak one like north korea
It’s literally how serfs, peasants, knights and royalty worked. It’s just modern times.
They just take more from their middle and working class than most other countries and they know they will face no resistance.
I’d be pretty obedient if I knew my parents and children would be punished if I spoke out.
They have Convinced themselves that they have something that other countries would attack them for so they must arm themselves from the imaginary enemy
Most countries spend less then 5% of their GDP on their military. North Korea spends 26% of the money it makes on its military. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2023/01/19/north-korea-passes-new-defense-budget/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20U.S.%20State,among%20170%20countries%20it%20reviewed.
They don’t have money, and much of their army is complete potemkin just for parades.
But you are missing something very critical. They are not a capitalist democracy. They dont need money to get things done.
Money is just an IOU for labour, NK doesn’t need to bargain for labour. They can just compel it directly from their citizens/slaves, bypassing need to buy them off with money.
They only thing they need money for is goods and services from outside the country. That is what sanctions are blocking, but sanctions can’t directly control the use of labour inside the sanctioned country.
As a sovereign state, DPRK emits its own money, so it will always have as much as it wants. So, your question should be reworded into:
>How does a country like North Korea seems to have **enough resources** for its army and to develop nuclear weapons despite being one of the most sanctioned countries in the world?
Now, considering that it is sanctioned and not liked by some powerful states out there, DPRK **should** prioritize defence, least it ceases to exist, and so one must assume^because_few_true_info_come_from_there it does so, which, again, one must assume, causes some disparity in budget spending.
But then, one may also ask:
>How does a country like North Korea manages to have **ANY resources** for its army and to develop nuclear weapons despite being one of the most sanctioned countries in the world?
And to that the answers are:
* Even a small country may achieve a lot if properly managed, especially if the manner of management overcomes core inefficiencies of capitalist economies by ascending above that type of economical structure.
* Being sanctioned by the “Free world”^TM does not mean being sanctioned by all the world, and DPRK has its allies too, some of the most powerful states on the Earth among them.
You have to consider the fact that North Korea is almost 100% lying about the readiness and capabilities of its military.
Others are making very good points with regard to what NK soldiers actually do all day, that they are a government work force, as much as a fighting force. Another thing to co aider is the age and technological advancement of their military equipment. They are somewhere in the ‘70’s at best in that respect.
While they do possess nuclear bombs, and that threat makes the concept of a traditional land war somewhat moot anyway, putting that aside and actually considering the idea of a traditional, non nuclear engagement with NK becomes somewhat comical. They are quite literally working with 50+ year old technology (and in many cases actual equipment). Should they have an actual land war with South Korea it would be hopelessly lopsided against them it just about seems unfair. And air power is even more out of date. Their pilots would all be shot down before they even saw any of the enemy.
They may have a lot of “tanks”, but they are fucking ancient. So a 10 to 1 kill rate against them would be a reasonable expectation.
Really it’s the nukes that are the only threat they have.
Most of their income comes from illegal means – they are behind some of the largest hacks in the world, many of the frauds being run on regular US Citizens (car warranty, IRS payments, etc.), they are heavily involved in the drug trade, and actually produce and export some stuff like coal, metals (iron, tungsten), and even oil.
Much of their technology is stolen as well, so they don’t have the immense overhead of trying to develop technologies from scratch, like the US does.
Although their total GDP is low, they are a (true) communist country where the state (the government) controls all wages and money. So they decide how much you make, how much the government keeps, and so on.
With all those controls, they simply keep their populace extremely poor and use the money “saved” to fund their weapons program. This is why they are constantly seeking international FOOD aid to feed their population.
Many people refer to North Korea as the “Hermit Kingdom” but in reality, it’s just one massive criminal enterprise like the drug cartels, mafia, etc.
Countries like Russia, China, and India don’t follow said sanctions and have no problem doing business with KJU. The US is also guilty of funding them by looking the other way when NJ entities use fake shell companies to “legally” do business.
Oh, and North Korean runs some of the most effective hacking operations in the world, stealing/laundering money on behalf of wealthy individuals and corrupt despots
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