Smugglers from North Korea are smuggling boxes full cigarettes into China and earning up to $8 per box. Each box consists of 500 cigarettes produced in North Korea. One smuggler told a reporter that he is able to make up to $8 per box when sold illegally on the black market in China.
China has over 300 million smokers and consumers one-third of all cigarettes worldwide.
In North Korea, a pack of cigarettes costs about $0.50 (3,500 North Korean Won) on the black market. Popular brands of tobacco in the country are Gohyang, Craven, and Yeomyeong.
Source: Sung Hui Moon, “North Korean Smugglers Cash in as More Chinese Light Up,” Radio Free Asia, April 3, 2013.
Security analysts estimate that up to 40 percent of North Korea’s total trade levels could be made up from illicit revenue. Intelligence reports state that government agencies in North Korea actively participates in criminal rackets such as counterfeiting, production and sales of methamphetamine, and the illegal exporting of missile sales.
Source: Parameswaran Ponnudurai, “Global Bid to Cripple North Korea’s Illicit Trade,” Radio Free Asia, March 5, 2013.
Between 1998 and 2012, the North Korea Government is estimated to have spent between $2.8 Billion and $3.2 Billion on its missile program. The amount of money spent on the missile program would have been able to feed the entire country with corn for 3 years.
Source: Jane Perlez, “Despite Risks, China Stays at North Korea’s Side to Keep the U.S. at Bay,” New York Times, December 13, 2012.
An underground railroad organization that rescues human trafficking victims in China says that the costs from $1,300 to over $3,000 to conduct a rescue operation. The organization helps North Korean women who have been sold by traffickers to men in China. The women are sold to the men to be their brides for around $1,000.
Due to China’s one child policy, in certain areas of China the ration between men to female is 14 to 1.
(See more human trafficking prices)
Source: Melanie Kirkpatrick, “North Korea: Human Traffickers and the Chinese Market for Brides,” Daily Beast, August 20, 2012.
In 2011, a reported 2,706 North Koreans defected from the country and entered South Korea.
Between January and March 2012, there were 366 North Korean defectors. Between April and June 2012, there were 385 defections.
After the death of Kin Jong Il, the number of defections dropped by 42 percent in the first half of 2012. South Korean officials attribute the drop in defections to increased security. The crackdown on defections have caused the price to bribe a border guard to increase. In 2012, the cost of a bribe was reported to be $6,000, compared to $1,000 a few years ago.
It was previously reported that it costs a defector up to $7,000 to smuggle a person from North Korea into China and eventually South Korea.
Source: Chico Harlan, “With crackdown, N. Korea puts a hold on defectors,” Washington Post, July 20, 2012.
Every year, North Korean defectors living in South Korea send an estimated $10 Million to family and villages in North Korea. The 23,000 defectors send the money is bundles of $500 to $1,000 at a time. The amount of the bundles are enough to feed a family for one year in North Korea.
Source: Chico Harlan, “In North Korea, role of foreign currency grows,” Washington Post, February 15, 2012.
In 2010, South Korean authorities seized 8,200 grams of foreign-produced methamphetamine within the country. Of that total, around 57 percent of the illicit drugs originated from China. Law enforcement believe that a large portion of the drugs were trafficked through North Korea on its way towards South Korea.
Source: Kim Young-Jin, “North Korea feared to flood South with drugs,” Korea Times, February 8, 2012.
As of October 31, 2011, the black market exchange rate for U.S. dollars in North Korea was reported to be 2,800 won per dollar. The black market exchange rate is 30 times higher then the official dollar exchange rate.
Source: “N.Korean Regime Squeezes People for Dollars,” Chosun Ilbo, October 31, 2011.
A broker who arranges people to be smuggled out of North Korea and into China and South Korea told the BBC that she earns between $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
Source: Lucy Williamson, “Shadowy world of Korea’s people smugglers,” BBC News, July 6, 2011.
According to a woman attempting to smuggle her family into South Korea from North Korea, the reported price was $3,500 from North Korea into China and an additional $2,500 to bring the person into South Korea.
Source: Lucy Williamson, “Shadowy world of Korea’s people smugglers,” BBC News, July 6, 2011.
