In mid-January, North Korea’s premier Kim Tok Hun revealed the country’s accounts for last year and budget targets for 2024, offering a number of interesting and revealing pieces of information on Pyongyang’s spending priorities.

The numbers published after a meeting of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament notably revealed massive outlays on quarantine facilities and agriculture in 2023, while outlining big increases in technology and culture-related spending in this year’s budget.

However, the general trends in North Korea’s budget do not track overall economic performance, implying that improvements in the country’s economic