North Korea Thrives as China-Russia Bloc Blocks Sanctions
SkimNews Take
By shielding Pyongyang from UNSC pressure, China and Russia aren't just aiding one proliferator — they're establishing that great power alignment, not non-proliferation norms, now determines who faces consequences, eroding the regime's universal credibility.
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- China and Russia issued a joint statement after the May Xi-Putin summit explicitly opposing sanctions on North Korea, reversing years of cooperation with Washington; since 2022, both have vetoed or blocked U.S.-led resolutions to tighten measures and Russia has refused to report its petroleum shipments to the UN for more than two years.
- In exchange for North Korean ammunition and troops aiding its Ukraine war, Russia signed the June 2024 Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Kim Jong Un, resumed petroleum shipments exceeding the UN cap, unfroze sanctioned North Korean assets, and integrated Pyongyang's banks into Russian financial networks.
- China accounts for approximately 98% of Pyongyang's total trade in 2024, with bilateral commerce reaching $325.8 million in April—the highest since December 2017—and serves as the structural backbone of the North Korean economy.
- South Korean intelligence estimates Pyongyang imported roughly 3.5 million barrels of refined petroleum from China and Russia in 2025—seven times the UN-capped 500,000-barrel annual limit—while exporting an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of coal, often falsely labeled as Russian to evade sanctions.
- North Korean hackers stole $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency in 2025 (a 51% year-over-year increase), and South Korea's central bank estimates the North Korean economy grew 3.7% in 2024, its highest rate in eight years.
- North Korea has assembled roughly 60 nuclear warheads with enough fissile material for at least 30 more, codified its nuclear force-building policy in its constitution in September 2023, and recently unveiled a new uranium-enrichment plant.
Why it matters: The U.S. strategy of relying on coordinated economic isolation to compel North Korea's denuclearization is no longer viable—China's 98% share of North Korean trade gives Beijing structural control, Russia's wartime alliance provides Pyongyang with an economic lifeline and diplomatic cover, and North Korea has assembled roughly 60 warheads despite two decades of UN sanctions.
