North Korea has been dominating headlines across the globe for the past few weeks. The war of words between the heads of the US and North Korea is now raising geopolitical tension and also impacting the South Asian market outlook.
In the latest development, the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, said the decision to 'delay' the missile attack on Guam is deliberate. Guam is an unincorporated territory held by the US.
The US is always known for their engagement in wars outside their territory. However, this case won't be easy as North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world, more so due to their minimal business ties with other nations.
But to everyone's surprise, North Korea has the strongest business relation with China despite their disagreements over nuclear tests.
Data analytics firm Statista revealed that North Korea imported as much as 85 percent of its goods worth around Rs 22,555 crore (USD 3.47 billion) from China in 2015. In the same period, North Korea exported goods worth around Rs 18,395 crore (USD 2.83 billion) to China, which constitutes about 83 percent of the total export.
The even more surprising fact is, India is North Korea's second biggest trade partner, although the numbers are way small as compared to China's trade with North Korea. The Statista data reveals that North Korea exports good worth as much as Rs 635.7 crore ($97.8 m) to India.
Followed by India, North Korea's the top destinations for exports are Pakistan with goods worth around Rs 28.15 crore ($43.1 m) and Burkina Faso with exports worth Rs 213.2 crore ($32.8 m).
Likewise China, the data further revealed that North Korea received highest amount of imports from India Rs 702 crore ($108 m) after China in 2015.
On the geopolitical front, India and North Korea stands at two different corners. Earlier India has criticised North Korea's nuclear tests and has condemned its ties with Pakistan and its support for the Kashmir conflict.
The UN Security Council had recently voted unanimously to impose strict new sanctions on North Korea as a response to country's launch of two intercontinental missiles. The measures significantly step up restrictions on North Korea's international trade and estimated that Pyongyang will lose about Rs 6,500 crore ($1 billion) a year. Soon after the sanctions were imposed India banned all trade with North Korea excluding only food and medicine items.
