North Korea’s relatively strong economic growth in recent years is a temporary phenomenon driven heavily by military production related to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a new analysis, warning that living standards could suffer once wartime demand wanes.

A recent report by the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS), a think tank affiliated with South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), challenged reporting by news outlets like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times that have portrayed the DPRK economy as a success story due to Pyongyang’s ties with Moscow.

Lim Soo-ho of the INSS, the author of the