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  • It may look like your typical fast food joint,

  • but the businessman behind this Singapore-based

  • restaurant has made history in North Korea.

  • He opened the country's first fast food restaurant

  • in Pyongyang back in 2008.

  • But who would want to do business with North Korea?

  • It's not as unpopular as you think.

  • At least 80 countries traded with North Korea last year.

  • North Korea continues to be hit by U.N. and

  • American sanctions, but that hasn't

  • stopped its economic growth.

  • In fact, its economy grew at its fastest pace

  • in nearly two decades last year,

  • with its GDP expanding 3.9 percent,

  • surpassing its neighbor South Korea.

  • North Korea's top trading partners vary

  • depending on which source you look at,

  • but no matter how you slice the data,

  • North Korea's most important ally is China.

  • The Chinese border town of Dandong is separated

  • from North Korea by just half a mile.

  • At least 80 percent of North Korea's trade is with China,

  • and two-thirds of that trade reportedly goes through

  • this single-laned bridge connecting the two countries.

  • Coal is North Korea's largest export

  • and last year, China bought $1.2 billion worth of it.

  • The Chinese also have a huge appetite for its seafood,

  • which is perceived to be cleaner and tastier.

  • In the first half of this year alone,

  • the Chinese bought almost

  • $100 million worth of seafood.

  • China has been putting more pressure on its neighbor.

  • It suspended coal imports and banned banks

  • from providing financial services to North Korea.

  • In September, Chinese sanctions began to bite.

  • Chinese imports of coal were down more than 70 percent,

  • while its exports of petrol fell by almost 100 percent.

  • Sino-Korean ties seem to be cooling.

  • When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

  • sent Lunar New Year greetings this year,

  • the first card didn't go to Chinese leaders,

  • but instead to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  • Russia and North Korea go way back.

  • The Soviet Union made up half of North Korean trade

  • for almost thirty years, until it collapsed in the 1990s.

  • But Russia is ramping up its involvement.

  • It announced in 2015 that it wants to increase trade

  • with North Korea ten-fold to a billion dollars by 2020.

  • But they aren't quite there yet.

  • Bilateral trade between the two countries

  • decreased from 2013 to 2016.

  • But in the first quarter of this year,

  • Russia's trade with North Korea more than doubled

  • to $31.4 million year-on-year.

  • President Vladimir Putin recently said Russia exports

  • 40,000 tons of oil to North Korea a quarter.

  • So that's about 160,000 tons a year.

  • That's a fraction compared to China,

  • but also more than four times what

  • the U.N. estimated for Russia in 2015.

  • But it's not just limited to trade.

  • Siberia faces persistent labor shortages.

  • Enter North Korean labor.

  • The U.S. State Department estimates that around

  • 20,000 North Koreans are sent to Russia

  • to work for Russian companies,

  • making an estimated $170 million for the regime.

  • It's estimated that more than 50,000 North Korean

  • workers are employed in foreign countries,

  • mostly in Russia and China,

  • but also in countries like Qatar, Malaysia and Poland.

  • North Korea is estimated to make

  • $1.2 and $2.3 billion annually from exported labor.

  • North Korea is big on defense,

  • so maybe it's no surprise that

  • it sells weapons to a vast global network.

  • Sources estimate that North Korea made $300 million

  • in arms sales in 2015,

  • and its list of clients is large and varied.

  • The U.N. intercepted two North Korean arms shipments

  • to the Syrian government this year,

  • as well as 30,000 grenades to Egypt.

  • Other North Korean customers include Iran and Yemen.

  • Another important piece of the

  • North Korean money-making machine is Africa.

  • Goods traded with North Korea across Africa

  • amount to more than $100 million annually.

  • The U.N. is investigating seven African countries

  • for possible violations of its sanctions on North Korea,

  • ranging from military training to weapons sales.

  • In the midst of a lot of this activity seems to be

  • North Korean-owned enterprise

  • Mansudae Overseas Projects,

  • which is behind several huge

  • construction projects across Africa,

  • building everything from ammunition factories

  • to apartment blocks to giant statues.

  • The U.N. estimates that tens of millions are

  • being made by Mansudae in Africa.

  • It's clear that North Korea

  • is eager to drum up new business.

  • It even published a new guide

  • on its investment and business environment.

  • But as geopolitical tension grows and more

  • countries suspend trade with the Communist state,

  • North Korea's business ambitions may have to stay put.

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It may look like your typical fast food joint,

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