Medvedev called for learning from one of the poorest countries in the world

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with TASS that one can learn from North Korea how to “organize the quick and effective mobilization of economic opportunities.”

According to him, the DPRK managed to achieve outstanding results with little economic opportunity under conditions of a total blockade. Thus, Medvedev noted that Pyongyang managed to build a defense industry and ensure national security, which, according to the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, “arouses respect.”

Meanwhile, as the Moscow Times recalls , North Korea remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Thus, the country's real GDP is only about 26.7 billion dollars, and per capita - only 1,100 dollars. The income of the average North Korean is approximately 25-30 times lower than that of the average South Korean. At the same time, even heads of enterprises in the DPRK earn about ten dollars a month. For comparison, the publication cites Ukraine, where, with a comparable population size, the GDP in 2025 was about $200 billion.

At the same time, North Korea became one of the few countries in the world where hunger was a serious problem even at the end of the twentieth century. Thus, in the late 1990s, according to various estimates, up to three million people died there from food shortages.

At the same time, in 2020–2023, during the covid pandemic, a new food crisis broke out in the DPRK. At that time, international organizations and refugees also reported numerous cases of North Koreans dying from starvation.

At the same time, the South Korean central bank estimates that the DPRK economy grew by 3.1% in 2023–2024, the highest level since 2016. Experts attributed this to the intensification of trade and military-industrial cooperation with Russia, thanks to which the country received new supplies of fuel and food, which made it possible to stabilize prices on the domestic market.