North Korea’s Trade Hit More by Covid Than Sanctions, KITA Says

North Korea’s closure of borders to safeguard the country from the pandemic is dealing a bigger blow to trade with the isolated economy than international sanctions, according to a report by a trade association in Seoul.

North Korea’s trade with China, by far its largest economic partner, shrank 73% through September and is on course to plunge 80% for the whole year, the Korea International Trade Association said Friday. That would exceed the 57% drop seen during the same period in 2018 when international sanctions intensified to penalize the Pyongyang regime for its tests of nuclear weapons and missiles to ...