North Korea

For actors from the EU, Switzerland and the USA, trade with the DPRK is largely prohibited by comprehensive UN and national sanctions. Strict licensing and prohibition rules apply, and careful sanctions screening is mandatory.

A comprehensive UN sanctions regime applies (including Resolutions 1718, 1874, 2270, 2321, 2371, 2375 and 2397) with export bans on coal, iron, textiles and seafood and a cap on petroleum imports. The EU and USA maintain additional embargoes of their own.

The most important seaports are Nampo on the west coast near Pyongyang and the ice-free port of Rason/Rajin in the northeast, developed with Chinese and Russian involvement. Further ports include Chongjin, Hungnam, Wonsan and Haeju.

Most legal trade runs over the Sinuiju-Dandong rail and road border with China (around 80 percent). In the northeast, the broad-gauge line Tumangang-Khasan connects North Korea to the Russian rail network and to the port of Rajin.

North Korea has no Western-style VAT. Foreign trade is a state monopoly; under the DPRK Customs Law import duties of roughly 5 to 30 percent apply depending on the goods category, in practice heavily restricted by sanctions.

The UN Panel of Experts was dissolved in April 2024 following a Russian veto. Since 2025, the voluntary Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) of eleven states has taken over monitoring of sanctions implementation.

This page links to important partner countries (based on import/export partners) for quick context.

• CN
• RU

For international shipments, these terms are a good quick start:

• Incoterms
• AWB (Air Waybill)
• Bill of Lading (B/L)
• HS Code
• UN/LOCODE