North Korean hackers make money out of stealing virtual property in South Korean online gaming worlds. This, according to the New York Times: Despite its decrepit economy, North Korea is believed to train an army of computer programmers and hackers. The police in Seoul said that four South Koreans and a Korean-Chinese had been arrested … [Read More]
Tag: DPRK revenue-raising
Selected publications
- Justin Hastings: A Most Enterprising Country: North Korea in the Global Economy, Cornell East Asia Series 2016
North Korea’s silkworm technology
Bored with shelling South Korean islands, North Korea looks to invest in Vietnamese silk. FT blogs: http://bit.ly/dQwPzB # North Korea’s contribution to any silk venture will be its “silkworm expertise and technology”, Vietnam would, in exchange, provide labour and investment in production facilities. [Read More]
Ginseng, zinc, anything but cash
North Korea offers to pay off Czech debts with ginseng. I suppose the hard cash is needed for nukes and Kim's posh brandy. The Czechs said they’d prefer zinc. http://bit.ly/9SK0dl # [Read More]
New North Korean statue in Senegal
One of the DPRK’s monumental art exports is unveiled in Senegal: http://bit.ly/cN9UFc. Recalls Paekho’s exhibition in London, September 2007. # [Read More]
British cigarettes generate cash for DPRK
North Korea resells British cigarettes – BAT State Express 555s – to generate hard cash: BAT sold the so-called “NK555s”, made and packaged in Singapore for the US market, to a Singaporean distributor for shipment to Nampo … However at least 15,000 cases worth $6.3m rebounded out of Nampo to ports in Vietnam and the … [Read More]
North Korean jeans on sale in Sweden
North Korean jeans on sale in Sweden. A snip at $215! The brand name? "NoKo". # http://nokojeans.com/ After being turned down by North Korea’s largest textile company, the group managed to secure a manufacturing deal with its largest mining company, Trade 4, which also happens to run a small textile operations on its site. Source: … [Read More]
North Korean labourers in Russia
North Koreans labouring in Russia's timber camps: the UK connection, on Newsnight tonight: http://bit.ly/3wAaFJ # The full video can now be viewed here http://bit.ly/s6YvM # Note the Hwang Byung-ki soundtrack. And another BBC report from Vladivostok, ten years later [Read More]
London lawyer smells a rat
A while back I posted about the various creative fund-raising techniques the DPRK is accused of using. Michael Payton, a senior partner in Clyde & Co’s insurance practice, is homing in on another one. The Korea Times reports on the smoking gun: The alleged fraud involves a wide variety of North Korean industrial and personal … [Read More]
The DPRK’s export economy
The (London) Times reminds us that in a country which is alleged to rely on illegitimate foreign exchange earnings, the effectiveness of sanctions against legitimate trade is not going to hurt much. The North Korean military and ruling elite have held off political collapse in the years since the end of the Cold War thanks … [Read More]
DPRK’s need for hard currency
Sorry, I’m a bit behind with some of the news stories. The BBC ran an interesting one a couple of days ago on the US$ supernotes and other ways of generating hard currency. The theme is picked up on in today’s DPRK embassy e-bulletin. [Read More]
DPRK e-bulletin 21 April 2006: superdollars
The DPRK’s London embassy speaks on the subject of Western accusations of drug-smuggling and currency counterfeiting: Pyongyang, April 19 (KCNA) — The people’s security institution in the DPRK tasked to protect by law the socialist system, the life and soul of its people, tightly holding the arms for state security, is following with a high … [Read More]