In 1974, North Korea ordered 1,000 Volvo sedans from Sweden — but to this day, the cars have not been paid for. With interest accruing for 52 years, North Korea's total debt now sits at $342 million.
gadgetdan/FlickrSeveral of the stolen Volvos pictured in Pyongyang.
In 1974, North Korea ordered 1,000 Volvo sedans from Sweden. They still have not paid for them.
Given how closed off the country is from much of the world, stories about North Korea are often filled with half-truths and unverifiable information. However, there’s one story that’s been well-documented — and it’s about how North Korea ordered 1,000 Volvos from Sweden, never paid for them, and, in the process, inadvertently and surprisingly helped build a useful relationship between the two nations.
But how did this even happen in the first place?
North Korea Orders 1,000 Volvos From Sweden
While many now think of North Korea as an impoverished, internationally isolated state, it was not always seen that way. In fact, in the 1950s and ’60s, many considered the North Korean economy to be stronger than that of their South Korean neighbors, as it had rebuilt much of its industrial base after the Korean War with Soviet and Chinese support.
North Korea wanted to use this economic strength to further industrialize. To that end, the country developed a plan to purchase and import Western technology on credit, increase its own domestic production, then repay the loans with the resulting output and export earnings.
Generally speaking, this was not seen as a bad idea. In fact, a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment of North Korea’s Six-Year Plan for 1971-1976 was surprisingly optimistic. While it noted that debt repayment could become an issue in the late 1970s, it speculated that, given the country’s industrial growth, North Korea would likely be able to service its new debts with relative ease.
Seeing an opportunity to enter a largely untapped market, Sweden began setting up diplomatic relations with the country, becoming one of the first Western nations to do so. For its part, North Korea was eager to work with Sweden in order to make progress toward its own industrialization goals.
Roman Harak/Wikimedia CommonsThese Volvo 144 GL four-door sedans were used in North Korea for decades, with some still spotted in recent years.
Consequently, in 1974, the country ordered equipment and other goods worth approximately 600 million Swedish kronor (or about $73 million) from its new Scandinavian partners. This order included items from several Swedish companies: Atlas Copco, ASEA, Kockums, Alfa Laval — and, notably, Volvo, from which the country ordered 1,000 144 GL four-door sedans.
North Korea’s Economy Hits A Rough Patch
By the time the order arrived, however, things were starting to take a turn for North Korea. The 1973 oil crisis had raised energy and production costs. At the same time, prices for some of North Korea’s raw material exports declined, and the country’s manufactured goods were struggling to find a foothold in international markets.
While the imported Western technology was meant to help curb these issues, this too was causing problems. Some of the technology could not be used, either because it was unnecessary given current production levels or because it simply could not be operated in the conditions available within the country. To make matters worse, the debts for all of these imports needed to be repaid in hard currency — something that North Korea had trouble earning without adequate exports.
As a result, the country began defaulting on many of its debts, effectively closing it out of international financial markets.
One of these defaulted debts was to the government-run Swedish Export Credit Agency, known as EKN. This was the agency that insured sales from Volvo and other companies to North Korea. Once the country began defaulting, it effectively acquired a growing sovereign debt to the Swedish state.
Wikimedia CommonsOne of the Volvos stolen from Sweden sits in Pyongyang in 2012.
As the Swedish state was, effectively, the guarantor of the sales, the companies involved were able to receive payments. Instead, the weight of the debt was absorbed by the EKN — and it began doing everything it could to collect on it.
Sweden Attempts To Collect Payment For The Volvo Sedans — To This Day
After the sale, Sweden continued deepening its ties with North Korea, even as the country began defaulting on its debts.
In 1975, Sweden became the first Western country to set up an embassy in Pyongyang. Now inside the country, this diplomatic mission made a significant effort to investigate North Korea’s finances and try to recover some of its money.
Jakob Steinrücken/Wikimedia CommonsThe Embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Eventually, Sweden began sending North Korea a bill twice a year showing the remaining debt and increasing interest. The current debt is estimated to be at around 3.3 billion kronor as of 2026, equivalent to around $342 million USD. While North Korea made some small payments on this debt until the 1980s, no significant contribution has been made in decades.
But what happened to the cars? Because there have long been relatively few privately operated vehicles in North Korea, Volvo 144 GL four-door sedans were easily and quickly spotted on the country’s roads. They were typically used as official transport vehicles, taxis, or vehicles for foreign visitors.
Available evidence suggests that these cars were used for decades and that there were at least a few examples still in use in 2025, though Volvo states that maintaining these vehicles was likely difficult due to the lack of available parts. Given the recent growth of the North Korean car market, however, it’s likely that these cars are no longer needed.
While many focus on the stolen Volvos aspect of this story, perhaps a more interesting aspect is how, paradoxically, this debt helped strengthen the relationship between Sweden and North Korea — and created a valuable asset in the country for many Western nations.
By having an embassy in the country, Sweden effectively became a Western intermediary between North Korea and nations without embassies in Pyongyang, such as the United States. This has allowed citizens of many Western countries to receive embassy-related services in the country.
Whether North Korea will ever repay this debt in full is unknown. Until it does, what remains of those 1,000 Volvos will be monuments to one of history’s strangest international deals gone awry.
For more bizarre stories from North Korea, learn about Room 39 — the country’s mysterious state-run slush fund. Then, browse through the strange web pages of the North Korean internet.
