The Hermit State, North Korea has long since become an enigma to the world when they decided
to wall themselves up and separate themselves from the rest of the international community.
Behind the veil that they have placed, countries around the world continue to be anxious about
what happens behind it; what its leaders and generals are planning behind closed doors;
what its state-run media is going to broadcast to the world the next day.
It is a fact that North Korea is an extremely unpredictable country with leaders who are
equally unpredictable themselves.
Kim Jong-il and his successor, Kim Jong-un are known to make threats against anyone who
has anything to say about their country and they have minced words with a number of American
presidents who have continuously led the call to the DPRKs nuclear disarmament.
In fact, the growing threat of North Korea's nuclear capabilities has earned the country
a number of embargos and sanctions from the United Nations and the rest of the international
community.
Sanctions that, hopefully, would knock some sense into its leaders and cripple their financial
capabilities of producing more weapons of mass destruction.
Unfortunately, though strict sanctions have been imposed time and again, it seems that
Kim Jong-un's regime shows no signs of stopping – or even slowing down – their production
of nuclear weapons.
By now, you would think that the country would have been economically crippled by now and
the regime would re-route what little finances they have to the well-being of its people
– but weapons are still being made and civilians and citizens continue to die of hunger.
The question to answer here is how: How does North Korea keep its arms program afloat despite
the sanctions and embargos?
How does the country continue to make money for the production of their missiles and funding
their ballistics tests?
How is their economy not yet in shambles?
In today's video, we will try to answer these questions by exploring 5 crazy ways
that may possibly be the reason how North Korea is earning money.
5.
THE BLACK MARKET During the height of the Soviet Union, North
Korea was well funded and financed by their largest ally in the world.
The country saw a growth in industry but it all collapsed when the Soviet Union was dissolved.
North Korea was perhaps the country that was hit the hardest during the collapse of the
USSR.
Having no means of income to sustain their economy, North Koreans resorted to dealing
and trading in the seedy underbelly of the Black Market.
Among the alleged activities that North Koreans involve themselves in are illegal exportation
of goods, money laundering, and human trafficking.
While counterfeit US currencies are widespread in the country, North Koreans have denied
that they are – or have been – involved in counterfeiting currencies and freely distributing
them.
What is interesting to note about this is that the US $100 bill is the most counterfeited
currency in the country that – according to reports – officials insist that citizens
use $50 US bills instead when they make so-called "Loyalty Offerings".
This may be due to the reason that fake $100 bills have flooded the local market so much
that North Koreans avoid using the denomination altogether.
4.
DRUG TRADE One of the most lucrative enterprises that
North Korea has been known for is their involvement in the international drug trade.
Other than opiates, cocaine, and heroin; North Korea has also been said to have involvement
in the widespread distribution of counterfeit prescription medication.
According to a source from the Atlantic Council, the country has "a large illicit drug industry"
and that "it has been a significant source of hard currency".
Though several journalists and investigative teams have all made substantial research on
the matter, North Korea continues to deny allegations of their involvement in the drug
trade and distribution of counterfeit medication.
However, with the alleged involvement of North Korean officials as well as some citizens
in the black market, it would be hard to believe that none of them are making money out of
deadly narcotics since, according to New Focus International, black market trading "provides
the main source of income for most North Koreans".
3.
CYBERCRIME In the recent years North Korea has been under
fire for being responsible for hacking and mining sensitive information from different
institutions.
From Hollywood to Financial Institutions around the world, several illegal online activities
were traced back to North Korean servers.
In 2016, one of the largest cyber-attacks happened when $81 million was stolen from
Bangladesh's account at the New York Federal Reserve.
According to the Wall Street Journal, North Korea had help in the massive cyber-theft
from Chinese middlemen.
Also, there have been some Chinese financial firms that appear to have been channels from
which North Korea collects their "funds".
The degree of the theft was so bad that six US senators – including then presidential
candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio – wrote the US Treasury and urged Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin to restrict North Korean banks from accessing Chinese Banks to cut off any
channel that siphons money to Pyongyang.
In a report published by Russian Cyber-security Firm Kaspersky, North Korea has been linked
to cyber-attacks in at least 18 countries and their respective financial institutions
that include Costa Rica, Nigeria, and Poland.
2.
ARMS DEALS North Korea is infamous for their nuclear
arms and it has also served them financially.
According to a lead analyst from The Economist Intelligence Unit for the regions of The Philippines,
Indonesia, and North Korea; Anita Basu, "The North Korean economy is basically being run
by its arms deals".
She points out that Pyongyang has export deals with several African countries.
Even more, a number of political analysts and experts speculates that North Korea is
in close cooperation with Iran on nuclear arms development.
Reports from the UN Security Council has even uncovered hat North Korea uses construction
companies in Africa to manufacture weapons which they then distribute.
The UN report even reveals that Egypt has recently intercepted a North Korean ship carrying
30,000 units of PG-7 rocket propelled grenades along with other weapons parts and accessories.
How these weapons slip past the scopes of the world is through North Korea's exploitation
of markets and procurement services around Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
1.
HUMAN SLAVE LABOUR Coal and hard minerals bring income to North
Korea as well.
These minerals can also be used to create and fuel weaponry.
One of the most horrifying acts that North Korea has ever done to its people is forcing
them to slave labour and shipping them off abroad usually to factories or mines in China
or Russia.
At home, slave labour is one of the ways in which the North Korean government is able
to build their weapons as well as export natural resources for that much needed revenue.
More often than not, labourers who are forcefully sent abroad to work are placed in inhumane
conditions that drive most of them to suicide or severe mental breakdown.
They are paid very little or not at all.
Not only does the money from selling slave labour help North Korea manufacture its weapons,
it has been known that Kim Jong-un and his top officials also use the money in order
to buy the support of other leaders and try to rally them to their side.
In a statement made by Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, he says that,
"If we can take away his hard currency, his hard cash, I think that will create a
new political dynamic in North Korea.
He can't buy off the political elites
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