North Korea has been a confirmed impoverished nation, replete with malnourished citizens and dependence on international food aid. The country is also wracked with famines. Moreover, it has been known as a failing economy. So, how then can it afford all the nuclear weapons that it has been testing under its missiles and nuclear weapons program?

The answer may be simple if one looks at North Korea as a military state. As such, the biggest chunk of its national budget that comes from its national incomes serves the country’s ‘military-first’ policy.

And yet another answer lies in the fact that North Korea’s deflated economy may just be unfounded rumors or estimates from its political opponents. The truth is that the country’s economy has been growing at an average of about 1.5 percent a year. China has been helping North Korea in refurbishing the latter’s infrastructure and mining industry. The country’s efforts are focused on steel production, mining, and light-industrial manufacturing.

The communist regime in Pyongyang has also sold missiles to Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. These exports have earned for the country some $100 million.

North Korea is also not isolated as it is touted to be, in spite of the heavy sanctions leveled at the country. Fact is the country enjoys ‘diplomatic and commercial relations with more than 150 countries, including most European Union members.’ Additionally, the country has considerable gold reserves in London, Zurich, and Hong Kong amounting to 1,000 to 2,000 tons. In fact, North Korea regularly ‘buys and sells shares on the New York Stock Exchange via a legitimate London-based brokerage firm it essentially owns.’

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Via Newsweek