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The claim was made in a paper unveiled by Chang Hyung-soo, a professor at the division of economics and science of Hanyang University. It was cited by the Korea Development Institute, South Korea's state-run think tank.
"It is highly likely that the North has posted a net foreign currency surplus annually from 2000 to 2008 and if the dollars earned from weapon trading and illegal import are included, Pyongyang would have posted a significant surplus," Chang said.
"Especially in 2008, the North posted a large surplus in its foreign currency balance despite a steep decline in trading of weapons and other illegal activities caused by global sanctions and suspended aid of fertilizer and rice from the South," he added.
Chang, however, didn't provide detailed figures and how the North obtains foreign currencies.
His claim counters speculation that the North might be suffering from a dollar drought as trade has been restrained by economic and financial sanctions. The level of sanctions were heightened after the country went ahead with its second nuclear test in May in defiance of warnings by the international community.
The North's holding of dollars draw attention from many countries as they suspect the communist country of using the money in developing its missile and nuclear technologies. The North earns most of its dollars from its trade with South Korea and China.
Chang, however, said that the amount of money used in pursuing its nuclear ambitions must be smaller than many media have reported as it is far-fetched to apply the same level of labor and technology costs used by advanced countries.
"It is a little unreasonable to calculate the amount of money the North spends on its missile and nuclear tests by using data from advanced countries where labor costs are expensive and top-notch technologies are employed," Chang said.
(Yonhap) rw
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