Cigarettes reclaimed a top spot among North Korea’s imports from China last month as the country emerges from a nationwide COVID-19 outbreak, exceeding pharmaceuticals, basic foodstuffs and even in uptick in mask imports, trade data shows. 

According to China’s General Administration of Customs, North Korea imported roughly $9 million worth of cigarettes in September, making up nearly 10% of the country’s total imports from China. 

The resurgence of cigarette imports — which had subsided earlier this year as the country rushed to boost medicine supplies — will provide new products for the large segment of the