Russia interested in importing North Korean clothes: Embassy in Pyongyang

Category: GARMENTS

Country: Russia

Embassy praises ongoing women’s clothing expo in DPRK capital but adds cooperation must comply with UN sanctions

Ifang Bremer November 7, 2022

Russia hopes to eventually see clothing and shoes labeled “Made in North Korea” on store shelves, the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang has said, after Moscow’s ambassador visited an ongoing women’s clothing expo in the North Korean capital.

The embassy’s expression of interest in importing DPRK-made apparel came in a Facebook post uploaded last week, which states North Korea’s Women’s Clothes Exhibition-2022 “made a very positive impression” on the embassy and left Russian diplomats “convinced” of the “high production potential” of making “high-quality modern clothes that satisfy the most demanding tastes.”

“We hope that over time we will be able to see products with the brand ‘Made in North Korea’ on the shelves of Russian stores,” the embassy wrote in the post.

But embassy staff later told Russian state media Ria Novosti that cooperation with North Korea should comply with U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. UNSC Resolution 2375 (2017) bans countries from importing North Korean textile products as part of sanctions targeting Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. 

Anthony Rinna, an expert on Russia-DPRK relations, told NK News that the embassy’s statement shows Russia’s interest in keeping North Korea’s economy afloat.

“It is also in Russia’s interest to have a solid economic presence on the Korean Peninsula,” he said. “If they can be an export market for the DPRK, this helps fortify their position as an economic actor in an Asian market directly on their border, however small.”

“By promoting the ‘made in North Korea’ brand, the Kremlin could be attempting to signal that the DPRK and Russia are both kindred spirits mutually supporting each other against Western-led economic warfare,” Rinna added.”

The embassy’s expression of interest in importing North Korean clothes may also stem from the effects of international sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

“If Russia can attach significance to North Korean products as symbolizing defiance of the West, it may be mutually beneficial for North Korea and Russia: North Korea may get more cash inflow, and Russia may be able to substitute some products it cannot obtain (easily) from the West with North Korean replacements,” Rinna said.

North Korea and Russia have strengthened their ties in recent months, in large part as a result of Pyongyang’s support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Last week, Russia sent a train carrying 30 purebred horses over the DPRK border in the first railway shipment between the countries since early 2020. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. claimed that North Korea has begun “covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells,” although both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied this. 

Courtesy: https://www.nknews.org/2022/11/russia-interested-in-importing-north-korean-clothes-embassy-in-pyongyang/