Kim Jong-un's Strategic Fortunes Rebound as Russia, China and the US All Come Courting

Five years after Kim Jong-un publicly admitted his economic plans had failed "in almost every sector," North Korea's leader finds himself in an unexpectedly comfortable position. Rather than the isolated, sanctions-strangled figure of the early 2020s, Kim is now being courted by three of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a reversal few analysts predicted even two years ago.

The turnaround traces back to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which created an opening Pyongyang has exploited aggressively. According to estimates from South Korea's central bank, North Korea's economy has grown for three consecutive years since 2023 and is currently expanding at roughly 3.5 percent annually, a pace that outstrips the United States, the European Union, Japan and Brazil. Most of the country's 27 million people remain mired in poverty, but the growth has given the regime a financial cushion it lacked five years ago.

Much of that windfall stems from North Korea's role as a weapons supplier to Moscow. Pyongyang is estimated to have sold Russia around $14 billion worth of munitions, including more than 10 million artillery shells and rockets, while tens of thousands of North Korean troops have been deployed to fight alongside Russian forces or operate drones against Ukrainian targets. The arrangement has turned North Korea into an indispensable, if unofficial, partner in Vladimir Putin's war effort.

Kim has simultaneously mended ties with Beijing. Chinese leader Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang this year, marking his only foreign visit of 2026, a symbolic gesture that underscored how far the two countries' relationship has recovered after a period of coolness.

Washington, too, is angling for renewed engagement. US president Donald Trump, keen to replicate the headline-grabbing 2018 summit with Kim, recently scaled back joint military exercises with South Korea in what was widely read as a goodwill gesture toward Pyongyang. North Korea's response was notably indifferent, a sign of how little leverage sanctions and diplomatic pressure now carry over the regime. Analysts expect Kim would demand significant sanctions relief, and ultimately some form of American acknowledgment of North Korea's nuclear status, before agreeing to sit down with Trump again.

Not everything is going Kim's way. The regime's flagship Wonsan Kalma beach resort, built to project an image of prosperity and open the country to at least limited tourism, has struggled to attract visitors beyond the Russian tourists currently permitted to use it. The setback is a reminder that North Korea's broader economic isolation persists even as its geopolitical standing improves.

Taken together, the shift illustrates how the war in Ukraine has reshaped North Korea's calculus, turning a once-desperate, isolated state into a country with genuine leverage over three global powers simultaneously — a dynamic that could complicate any future effort to curb its nuclear ambitions.