Nuclear North Korea: 6 ways it differs from Iran

North Korea obtains 80 percent of its fuel and half of its food from China. That ensures that North Korea’s 1.1 million troops get just enough to eat and that civilian and military elites can live in relative comfort. The World Food Program and other organizations estimate that at least half the country’s 25 million people are underfed and bereft of medical facilities. One aspect of UN sanctions that does impact the country's rulers is a ban on luxury items. But the overall impact is muted because North Korea is not integrated into the world economy, unlike Iran, a major oil producer. Nor does North Korea produce manufactured products for export other than missiles and other armaments, which are subject to UN sanctions. Border trade with China does offer ways around the ban on weapons exports. North Korean and Chinese traders profit from this trade, likely with the full knowledge if not cooperation of authorities on both sides.