Too Long; Didn't Read
In 2018, world merchandise exported a total of 19 trillion dollars, up 10% from the previous year. International trade encourages countries to specialize in producing only those goods and services which they can produce with the most efficiency at the lowest cost. North Korea is cut off, because they have tense relationships with the United States, and President Trump threatened to stop US trade with any country that would deal with the rogue nation. The same can be said about many other countries - Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, all of them are blocked from doing normal business due to political agendas.