Belarus Starts Food Exports To The DPRK

We are talking about tens of tons of meat products.

As "Zerkalo" learned, in mid-December, a large shipment of meat products was sent from Belarus to the DPRK by rail. Payment for the goods was made through the accounts of the Polish company. We tell the details of the deal, which the Belarusian authorities seem to prefer not to advertise.

Through Russia to Pyongyang

According to the source of "Zerkalo," in mid-December 2025, various types of meat products were sent from Belarus to the DPRK: blocks of beef, chicken legs, stew, by-products. The goods of several companies from different regions of the country were exported. The entire shipment took several railcars, the total weight was estimated at dozens of tons, and the value - hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to one of the documents at the disposal of the editorial board, the recipient was Korea SongJin Trading Company. Its address in Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK, is Jongbaek 1, Rakrang district. There is almost no public information about the company itself, and we did not find it in the international sanctions lists.

Wagons from Belarus were going to North Korea via Russia. The route passed through the stations of Khasan in the village of the same name in the Primorsky Krai of Russia and Tumangan in the DPRK - a key transit point for all passengers and cargo that travels overland between the two countries.

"We didn't buy anything, just paid"

Although the final point of delivery is the DPRK, the documents list the Polish company Zendia as the "buyer". According to official registers, its sole owner is now a citizen of Belarus, 52-year-old Dmitry Radevich.

In the past, he worked in the transport industry, according to official databases provided to the Zerkalo by the organization BELPOL. Since 2012, Radevich held the position of deputy director at Belintertrans - the company is part of the structure of the Belarusian Railway and is engaged in international transportation. Since 2018, he worked at SB-TRANS, and was represented at the industry conference as commercial director.

Zerkalo contacted Dmitri Radevich, but he declined to comment, only noting that the Polish legal entity was approached by a Belarusian partner company with a request to "just pay".

Is it legal to supply products to the DPRK?

North Korea has been under international sanctions by the UN Security Council since 2006 - after its first nuclear weapons test. The restrictions primarily concern weapons, nuclear technology, luxury goods, and financial transactions. Food and medicines are excluded from the sanctions list.

But trade with the DPRK carries reputational risks. For example, the well-known insurance company Lloyd's warned that the country has extensive experience in circumventing sanctions and uses multi-level schemes for this purpose.

Experts named among the "red flags" the supply of goods that can be used in the production of nuclear weapons, inconsistencies in documents, as well as the use of intermediaries from third countries.

"Activating Dialogue"

Belarusian authorities have not yet publicly announced the start of food trade with the DPRK. But over the past two years, they have been actively developing relations with this country.

In July 2024, Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov visited North Korea. According to the official report of the Foreign Ministry, the development of bilateral economic cooperation "in areas not limited by the decisions of the UN Security Council" was discussed. In particular, they discussed the supply of Belarusian products and traditional Korean cosmetics to our market in the DPRK.

In May 2025, another Belarusian delegation traveled to the DPRK, this time headed by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Shuleiko, who oversees the agro-industrial complex in the government.

In October 2025, the head of the DPRK Foreign Ministry Choe Son Hee arrived in Belarus. "An agreement was reached to expand cooperation in all areas, including political, trade and economic, humanitarian and other areas," said the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry.

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