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N. Korea’s foreign debt estimated at US$18 billion (2008)

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) — North Korea is believed to be suffering from serious economic woes as the country’s external debt is estimated to be US$18 billion, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

North Korea owes a total of $18 billion to 30 different countries, including Russia and China, said Kwon Young-se of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), citing estimates from the Unification Ministry.

The amount is almost equal to North Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) for last year, which totaled 24.7 trillion won ($18.4 billion).

South Korea has loaned roughly 1.19 trillion won to the North, equivalent to nearly five percent of Pyongyang ‘s total foreign debt.

In comparison, the South’s overseas debt stood at 264.2 billion won, almost one-third of its GDP of 901 trillion won for last year.

“North Korea’s foreign debt is the result of the accumulation of unpaid trade bills and loans that it received from socialist states in the 1950s and 60s and from the Western world in the 70s to develop its economy,” Kwon said.

“The volume of foreign debt is expected to continue to rise due to the interest added to unpaid debts, although that can fluctuate depending on the result of negotiations with foreign creditors,” he added.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/northkorea/2008/10/07/2/0401000000AEN20081007005400315F.HTML