North Korea reduced its trade deficit with China in 2024 but remained highly dependent on its biggest economic partner, according to a new report, which found that Pyongyang also expanded ties with foreign partners as diverse as Argentina, Austria, Nigeria and the Netherlands.

The DPRK’s commercial exchanges slid by 2.6% to $2.7 billion in 2024, following a sharp 75% hike in its foreign trade to $2.77 billion on the back of a post-pandemic rebound in 2023, the ROK government’s Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOTRA) reported on Monday.