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Russia Turns to North Korean “Potency Boosters” Amid Demographic Crisis
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As Russia faces the steepest decline in birth rates recorded in more than two centuries, North Korea is preparing to export aphrodisiacs and “potency-boosting” supplements to the Russian market, NK News reported on December 4.
The supplier is Korea Sobaeksu United Corporation, a company sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union.
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Russian accreditation records show that a Krasnodar-based firm, Fares-Koryo, filed more than a dozen import applications in late November for what was described as “therapeutic and preventive products” produced in North Korea.
The paperwork lists Sobaeksu as the sender—a company the United Nations links to Pyongyang’s Ministry of Defense Industries, which oversees North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.
Fares-Koryo plans to sell the North Korean supplements under its own label. The filings include maca root, rapeseed extract, royal jelly, cordyceps, reishi mushrooms, and polygonum—ingredients long marketed in traditional medicine as libido enhancers or general tonics. Other shipments list blends based on aloe, red yeast rice, motherwort, plum extract, and beta-glucan.
The US Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly stated that aphrodisiacs function more as folklore than proven treatment. As far back as 1989, the agency concluded there was no scientific evidence that such products increase sexual desire.
Fares-Koryo was set up in July 2024 by entrepreneur Marina Makhmatova, has a single employee, and reports no revenue.
In the same Krasnodar shopping center, another company, Gradient, collaborates with North Korea’s Pugang Pharmaceutical. Earlier this year, Gradient registered a brand in Russia, and its “Neo Viagra”—marketed as extending sexual pleasure for up to 16–24 hours—has already appeared on Russian online pharmacies. Laboratory analysis showed its active ingredient is sildenafil, the same compound used in Viagra, although the formulation differs from the original drug.
The arrival of North Korean aphrodisiacs comes as Russia’s demographic crisis sharply accelerates. According to The Moscow Times, between 2014 and 2024, births declined by one-third, and last year marked the lowest figure since 1999, with 1.222 million newborns. In 2025, the drop continued: births fell another 3 percent in January–February, reaching levels not seen since the late 18th and early 19th centuries, wrote demographer Alexei Raksha. In response, the government moved to restrict access to detailed demographic statistics.
Earlier, reports emerged that Russia was planning to recruit about 12,000 North Korean laborers to work at its drone production facilities by the end of 2025.
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-9220540186162ee79463169b5478a8d5.jpg "Soldiers of Ukraine’s 40th Coastal Defense Brigade prepare a SHARK UAV for a mission in Kherson region, January 2025. (Source: Getty Images)")
