This paper estimated North Korea’s external debt balance using published data. This paper differs from previous studies in that the balance of external debt was calculated according to international statistical standards and the total balance of external debt is calculated after including the credits of non-members of the Paris Club and international financial institutions. In particular, in this process, whether or not the external debt items are double counted is reviewed. North Korea’s total external debt was estimated at 5.9~14.7 billion dollars as of the end of 2021. Among them, debt to public institutions accounted for 2.3~11.1 billion dollars, and debt to financial institutions accounted for 3.6 billion dollars. Based on the estimates of this paper, the following implications may be suggested regarding the high level of external debt and the likelihood of an overwhelmingly high share of debt to China. First, such an increase in external debt will cause some problems in repayment of external debt in the event of inter-Korean economic integration. Second, if the debt to China is overwhelming, it is possible that North Korea may significantly lose its bargaining power in its economic transactions with China in terms of price, volume and ancillary conditions.