Global oil prices surged sharply last week following the U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran, briefly pushing Brent crude to almost $120 per barrel after Iran's Revolutionary Guards moved to close the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint through which more than 20% of the world's daily supply of oil passes. 

For most countries, the spike is an economic headache. For North Korea, whose ability to access fuel depends on a patchwork of legal allowances, clandestine transfers, and politically sensitive bilateral arrangements, the timing and nature of this crisis creates pressure across multiple supply lines.

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