Part 2
The North Korean government is known for its totalitarian and military regime. The Kim family has ruled with an iron fist for more than three generations, and its absolute dictatorship has been shrouded in mystery. Foreign money continues to flow into the country despite repeated U.N. economic sanctions over the decades. Where do they get these funds to buy nuclear weapons and so on?
With the sanctions in place, the local economy is sure to suffer significantly. How do North Korean citizens survive? Well, unfortunately, living in North Korea means you often turn to the black market for sourcing goods from China. North Korea shares a border with China, and more than 80 percent of the border is unfenced. However, crossing the border is very dangerous because if you are caught by military security forces, you will have to pay a hefty fine or be sent to a labor camp.
Remco Breuker is a Dutch professor who has studied the North Korean economy for several years. One of the main questions he and his research team are trying to answer is: How does North Korea make money? where are you going? These funds have huge implications for how Kim Jong-un can afford nuclear weapons.
For years there have been rumors about “Bureau 39,” a secretive, top-secret, and mysterious government agency. The defectors claim it is the country’s unofficial “Ministry of Commerce”. It is committed to raising foreign capital by any means necessary. They will do anything from drug trafficking, counterfeiting, insurance fraud, to human trafficking to ensure Kim Jong Un increases his financial resources.
After a series of investigations, it turns out that human trafficking and slavery are important sources of income for North Korea. Although they are rich in natural resources, they cannot legally trade these resources. So they decided to use their excess human capital. Today, an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 North Korean workers are scattered around the world in industries as diverse as construction and mining.
They also have symbiotic relationships with countries like Cambodia and Syria. In Cambodia they built an Angkor Wat museum and restaurant complex to collect all the revenue for ten years and then split it 50-50 with the Cambodian government. Syria, on the other hand, needs help rebuilding the country, and North Korea has signed contracts to provide all the workers.
Most troubling, however, is how major clothing brands in the US and Europe also contribute to this illicit source of funding. These brands work with Chinese apparel companies that directly or indirectly employ North Koreans. The long-serving garment workers in North Korea are actually prisoners in labor camps outside Pyongyang. This means that some of the clothes we buy may have been made by enslaved people.
With all these findings, it is clear that Kim Jong-un is not just a dictator, but a shrewd businessman who runs his country like a corrupt corporation and exploits his people for profit. The worst part is that we don’t realize that we may be complicit in his crime.
Directed by: Sebastian Weis
