North Korea's Chinese Wine Imports Surge as Elite Demand Meets Uneven Sanctions

157,393 Liters in Seven Months

North Korea imported 157,393 liters of wine from China in the first seven months of 2025, more than twice the volume bought during the same period in 2024, according to Chinese customs data. The purchases made the country the second largest destination for Chinese bottled wine by volume, behind Hong Kong, despite international sanctions and persistent economic hardship.

The wine was worth approximately US$545,000, placing North Korea fifth by value, behind Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and France. Its higher position by volume than by value means it bought more wine, but spent less, than several other leading destinations.

As of August 30, 2025, the trade offers a window into two very different parts of North Korean life. Imported wine reaches a privileged market centered on political leaders, officials and wealthy consumers, while much of the population continues to face food shortages and difficulty obtaining basic goods.

China's role is central. The United States, Japan and South Korea prohibit luxury exports to North Korea, including alcoholic beverages. The European Union also restricts wine and other alcohol. China has not imposed comparable restrictions on wine, leaving an important supply route open to its neighbor.

The result is a trade shaped by more than drinking preferences. The figures reflect the purchasing power of North Korea's elite, the reach of Chinese trading networks and differences in how governments apply restrictions on luxury goods.

A Strong Rebound After a Fall in 2024

North Korea's position near the top of China's wine export market predates the latest increase. It was also the second largest destination by volume in both 2023 and 2024 and has consistently ranked among the top five by value.

The annual figures show a sharp rise in 2023, followed by a decline in 2024 and renewed growth during the opening seven months of 2025:

• 2023: Imports reached nearly 460,000 liters, worth US$2.15 million. Volume increased 217% from the previous year, while value rose 170%.
• 2024: Imports totaled 233,245 liters, valued at more than US$710,000.
• January to July 2025: Imports reached 157,393 liters, worth approximately US$545,000, with volume more than double that of the same period in 2024.

The volume imported in the first seven months of 2025 was already about 67% of the entire 2024 total. The declared value was also approaching the previous year's total, although the figures cover different lengths of time.

Hong Kong remains the largest destination for Chinese wine exports. France, Macau and Australia also feature prominently in the wider market. North Korea's place among these buyers stands out because of its small population, restricted international trade and widespread economic hardship.

Why Wine Can Still Cross the Border

The United Nations has prohibited luxury goods exports to North Korea since 2006. Alcohol, however, is not included on the official list described in the sanctions framework, leaving governments to apply restrictions that differ in scope.

The European Union expanded its sanctions in 2017 to include wine, Champagne, beer and sake among prohibited luxury items. Those restrictions made it harder for North Korea to obtain fine wines directly from European suppliers.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have also banned luxury goods exports to North Korea, including alcoholic drinks. China has not introduced similar restrictions, making it a crucial supplier of wine and spirits to the North Korean ruling class as other routes have narrowed.

A luxury goods ban is intended to restrict access to expensive products enjoyed by people in power. Its practical reach depends on which products each government prohibits and how those rules are enforced. Wine illustrates the consequences of those differences: a product restricted by one trading partner can remain available through another.

China's continued exports also sit within its longstanding alliance with North Korea. Beijing has a strategic interest in maintaining influence over its neighbor, while Pyongyang depends heavily on China for trade and political support.

Who Gets to Drink the Imports?

North Korea's political elite and their inner circles are considered the main consumers of imported wine. Industry analysts and defectors describe access as concentrated among people with money, status and connections, rather than spread across the population.

Pyongyang is the principal market. Imported bottles are largely sold through upscale department stores, hotels and restaurants frequented by privileged customers. For most North Koreans, economic hardship and limited access to consumer goods put these products far beyond everyday life.

North Korea remains one of the world's poorest and most isolated economies. Much of its population faces chronic food insecurity and relies on international aid to survive. The wine trade exists alongside those shortages, serving a narrow group able to buy foreign luxuries.

Wine also functions as a status symbol within the ruling class. An imported bottle can mark access to foreign goods and to the networks that bring them into the country. Its social role helps explain why demand can persist even when the wider economy is under strain.

The Kim Family's Taste for Fine Wine

Kim Jong-un, North Korea's Supreme Leader, is known for an interest in luxury food and drink. Accounts from former personal chefs and foreign diplomats describe lavish banquets featuring premium Bordeaux wines, Cognac and Champagne.

Kenji Fujimoto, described as Kim's former personal chef, has recounted that Kim inherited his father's taste for Bordeaux and often shared expensive wines at official functions. Bordeaux refers to the French wine region whose bottles feature repeatedly in accounts of the leadership's preferences.

During the 2019 summit between the United States and North Korea in Hanoi, Kim reportedly showed a keen interest in the quality and preparation of the food and wine served at the event. The account fits a broader pattern in which hospitality and luxury consumption form part of the leadership's public and private life.

Dr. Choi Jinwook, an academic based in Seoul, has described Kim's fondness for fine spirits and wine as profound. He has suggested that such indulgences may provide solace for a leader facing the pressures of power.

The tradition extends to Kim's father, Kim Jong-il, who was known for extravagant tastes and frequently traveled with cases of French wine and Cognac. Imported alcohol has therefore been associated with the ruling family's lifestyle across generations.

Searches and Shops Reveal an Exclusive Market

Wine Searcher, a global wine information platform, has recorded regular searches from North Korean users for Bordeaux wines in the middle price range, as well as prestigious labels such as Pétrus and Château Margaux.

North Korea tightly restricts internet access. The searches are consequently believed to come from Kim Jong-un's inner circle or senior government officials, groups with access to international information that most citizens lack.

Retail practices in Pyongyang also point to a specialized market. Department stores have reportedly begun hiring professional sommeliers to select premium wines for their customers. A sommelier is a specialist who helps choose and serve wine.

Retailers are also working with overseas producers to obtain expensive wines exclusively for the domestic market. Such arrangements resemble the buying habits of wealthy consumers elsewhere, but operate in North Korea against a backdrop of extreme inequality and political control.

Anecdotal accounts and photographs from Pyongyang suggest a limited expansion in urban consumer choice. Foreign wine, Swiss chocolates and Italian delicacies have become increasingly visible in small shops and restaurants, alongside signs of a growing middle class in urban centers.

That emerging consumer market remains narrow. Its growth marks a change from periods when foreign products were virtually unobtainable, while access continues to depend heavily on location, income and connections.

Chinese Brokers Connect Buyers and Suppliers

Chinese brokers and intermediaries play a major role in bringing foreign goods into North Korea. Their networks connect buyers with suppliers and help move products through routes that can include bonded zones and exports onward from China.

A bonded zone allows goods to be stored under customs supervision before they enter a domestic market or are sent to another destination. In the North Korean trade, such arrangements and onward shipping channels help traders work around restrictions imposed elsewhere.

The Guangdong Alcohol Industry Association has noted that foreign wines, particularly those from South America and Europe, reach North Korea through China's northeastern provinces, especially Liaoning. China therefore acts both as a wine supplier and as a route for products originating in other countries.

An NK Pro analysis found that goods sold to China by at least 20 countries in recent years were likely shipped onward to North Korea. Those shipments included thousands of bottles of European wine.

The networks help explain how North Korean buyers can continue obtaining foreign alcohol despite restrictions on direct sales. Goods can pass through intermediaries and more than one jurisdiction before reaching their final customers, making enforcement more difficult.

Chinese brokers also support the supply of foreign consumer goods to shops and restaurants. Their role links the elite wine market with the wider, though still limited, availability of imported products in Pyongyang.

Reopened Transport Supports the Trade

China is North Korea's main trading partner and political ally. Diplomatic correspondence between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un has stressed bilateral ties and regional stability, reflecting the political relationship behind the commercial exchanges.

North Korea's decision to end its self imposed border blockade allowed transport links to reopen. Cross border rail freight resumed, and regular flights between Pyongyang and Beijing returned, helping goods move again after the disruption.

Trade in alcohol and other products has rebounded to levels seen before the pandemic. Reopened transport gives traders more opportunities to deliver goods, while China's position as a supplier provides North Korea with an economic lifeline as other governments tighten restrictions.

Beijing's willingness to continue wine exports reflects both the close relationship and its interest in retaining influence. For North Korean consumers with the means to pay, that relationship helps preserve access to imported drinks and other luxuries.

Whiskey Imports and Beer Sales to Russia

Wine is only part of North Korea's foreign alcohol trade. Chinese customs data also show substantial purchases of whiskey, vodka and other spirits in recent years, including record import levels.

Figures for the first nine months of 2023 put wine imports through China at US$2.31 million and whiskey imports at US$2.87 million. Total spending on imported hard liquor, including cognac, rum, vodka and tequila, was approximately US$5.28 million during the same period.

The US$2.31 million wine figure for those nine months is higher than the US$2.15 million annual wine figure cited for 2023. The reason for the difference in coverage or classification was not specified.

North Korea has also begun selling its own alcoholic beverages abroad. In 2025, bottles of North Korean beer appeared on Russian shelves following the signing of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty between Pyongyang and Moscow.

The beer exports illustrate efforts to broaden trading relationships and earn foreign currency. North Korea is therefore participating in the alcohol trade in two directions: buying foreign drinks for domestic consumers and selling its own products to neighboring markets.

What the Wine Trade Changes

North Korea's purchases show how uneven restrictions leave room for a continuing luxury trade. The United Nations ban, broader national restrictions and China's approach operate alongside one another, producing different rules for suppliers serving the same destination.

Political leaders and other privileged consumers retain access to imported wine through Chinese exports, brokers and onward shipping networks. Ordinary citizens continue to face food insecurity and limited purchasing power, even as foreign products become more visible in parts of the capital.

The latest figures also give the story a precise scale. North Korea bought 157,393 liters from China in seven months, maintained its second place by volume and spent approximately US$545,000. Its appetite for imported wine has grown sharply from the corresponding period in 2024.

Changes in sanctions and diplomatic relationships will shape future access. As of August 30, 2025, the trade continues to connect North Korea's privileged consumers to international markets through a neighboring ally that remains central to its economy.

Key Points

• North Korea imported 157,393 liters of Chinese wine in January to July 2025, more than double the volume in the same period of 2024.
• It ranked second by volume behind Hong Kong and fifth by value, with purchases worth approximately US$545,000.
• Imported wine mainly serves political elites and other privileged consumers, especially in Pyongyang.
• China has not imposed the same alcohol restrictions as the United States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
• Chinese intermediaries and onward shipping routes help foreign wine reach North Korean buyers.
• Reopened rail freight and flights have supported a recovery in trade following the border blockade.
• North Korea also imports substantial amounts of spirits and began selling beer on Russian shelves in 2025.