News North Korea spent $965,000 on a mysterious Russian item in August: Trade dataAside from the mystery item category, the DPRK also spent serious cash on two powerful turbine engines ![]() North Korea imported Russian medical products, construction tools and building materials while continuing to de-prioritize food in August, staying on trend with previous months, according to recently-released data from Russia’s Federal Customs Service. August’s most imported item by U.S. dollar value is a mysterious and uncategorized item — a very rare occurrence in Russian trade data. The item is labeled “SSSSSSSS,” which appears to be a default system placeholder where a Harmonized System (HS) code describing the product normally appears. According to the data, the DPRK spent over $965,000 on 4,800 kilograms (10,582 pounds) of this © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |