When many years ago I heard, for the first time, lamentations by Pyongyang about the economic sanctions imposed on them by the vicious U.S., my first reaction was of surprise. Sanctions presuppose a ban on trade, I thought, but can North Korea really trade?
Having spent my university years in the Soviet Far East (the most active region of Russia in terms of trade with the DPRK) I remember three types of North Korean goods on the shelves of Soviet stores.
First, there were nashi pears. In my local store I was probably the
When many years ago I heard, for the first time, lamentations by Pyongyang about the economic sanctions imposed on them by the vicious U.S., my first reaction was of surprise. Sanctions presuppose a ban on trade, I thought, but can North Korea really trade?
Having spent my university years in the Soviet Far East (the most active region of Russia in terms of trade with the DPRK) I remember three types of North Korean goods on the shelves of Soviet stores.
Tatiana Gabroussenko obtained her PhD in East Asian Studies at the Australian National University. She is currently a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University, Seoul. Her latest book, "Soldiers on the Cultural Front: Developments in the Early History of North Korean Literature and Literary Policy," was included in the Choice magazine list of Outstanding Academic Titles of 2012.