As noted in Portfolio, North Korea is increasing its production of exportable goods in advance of what some feel will be a more relaxed trade environment in future months. Last year, North Korea sold $1.75 billion worth of products abroad, to such buyers as China and the European Union. As the article speculates, future North Korean exports may include:

“S.U.V.:  In 2002, the state-run Ryonbong General Corp. teamed up with Pyeonghwa Motors, which is based in Seoul, South Korea, to build a $55 million factory in the North Korean town of Nampo. Currently, the factory makes about 600 vehicles a year for Koreans on both sides of the demilitarized zone, but it has the capacity to churn out 20,000. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il named the S.U.V. Ppoggugi, the Korean word for cuckoo.

Beer:  When it comes to brewing, the North Koreans didn’t steal anyone’s recipe; they bought someone else’s factory. In 2000, the country spent about $2 million on Ushers, a 176-year-old English brewing complex that it transported in full to Pyongyang. Renamed Taedonggang, for Pyongyang’s Taedong River, it produces an estimated 47,000 gallons of beer a year and has an 80 percent market share in North Korea.

Computer games:  The Korea Computer Center, a state-run consortium of research facilities, produces everything from translation software to medical devices. One potential export is a computer game called Silver Star 2006, a version of the Asian board game Go. The Silver Star series’ Go-playing software has bested other machines to win the world computer-Go championship for three years running….”