The subject of the study are different problems with the export activity of the defense industry enterprises of Perm city to the DPRK in 1959- 1964, i.e. in the period when the USSR industry was managed not by branch ministries, but by regional economic councils (so called sovnarkhoz). Control over the export activities of Perm enterprises was entrusted firstly to the Perm Council of National Economy (sovnarkhoz), and since December 1962 to the one of the West Ural Economic District. Enterprises that made products for the needs of the defense industry, in addition to their official name, were also assigned a conditional number, so they were called "numbered" and "mailboxes" ("p/box"). Nevertheless, such enterprises exported their products mainly to the countries of the so-called "people's democracy", having played a significant role in the history of the formation of the industry of many states, among which was the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which determined the relevance of the chosen research topic. During this period, exports to the DPRK were carried out through seven large Perm defense plants subordinate to the departments of mechanical engineering and metallurgy, chemical, electrical and other industries, however, this article does not consider two chemical industry enterprises whose export activities in relation to North Korea were investigated in a separate article on export supplies to this country by Perm chemical industry plants. The regional sovnarkhozes functioned in 1957-1965, however, the choice of the period 1959-1964 as a chronological framework is due to the fact that it was at this time that the Perm defense factories exported their products to the DPRK. The article investigates the process of organizing the supply of products by Perm enterprises to North Korea and the problems associated with exports to this country. The novelty of the research is that the source base for this article is based on the materials of the State Archive of the Perm Krai (SAPK) covering the activities of the Department of Foreign Relations of the CNE of the West Ural Economic District. The documents were first introduced into scientific circulation within the framework of the topic under study.