Tobacco and demand for it in the DPRK proved resilient in the face of supply interruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the latest Chinese General Administration of Customs (GAC) export data to North Korea showed this week.

Beating out life’s other little luxuries such as alcohol or sweets, which did not appear in export data for March, more tobacco was exported to North Korea last month than butter, margarine, or even sausages, the only category of meat that managed to get through.

An analysis by NK Pro of 2019 GAC data shows that, when using