By Choi Ha-young
Around 50,000 clothing items made in North Korea have been sold in South Korea violating of the government's sanctions against Pyongyang, Rep. Kim Hyun-kwon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea claimed Tuesday.
Labels on the clothes showed they were made in China, but they were actually produced in North Korea. South Korean smugglers are involved in the circulation of the products, the lawmaker said citing data from the Korea Coast Guard (KCG).
Since 2010, the South Korean government has banned North Korean products from entering the South by imposing the sanctions called May 24 measures. The KCG had been in charge of finding people smuggling North Korean goods primarily sold here disguised as being from China.
The nuclear-armed regime has long operated textile factories in China to earn foreign currency in the face of international sanctions. The former conservative President Park Geun-hye had vowed to close Pyongyang's purse strings but apparently no state institution was committed to a crackdown.
In 2014, only one smuggler was caught. Before then, the KCG detected seven cases involving 23 offenders in 2013; and 12 cases involving 20 offenders in 2012. The smugglers dealt with various North Korean products such as clothes, clams, crabs, fish, coal and handicrafts all under Chinese trademarks.
The nation's spy agency, National Intelligence Service, took issue with loopholes in 2015 and the KCG established security offices in three cities ― Incheon, Sokcho and Donghae. Due to the shortage of manpower, however, the offices were not able to crack down on the smugglers.
The KCG's security department is still understaffed, Kim noted. "Considering the scale of the smuggled goods, it seems like organized crime," Kim said. "The KCG should rapidly build a system to detect smugglers and forgers."
Around 50,000 clothing items made in North Korea have been sold in South Korea violating of the government's sanctions against Pyongyang, Rep. Kim Hyun-kwon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea claimed Tuesday.
Labels on the clothes showed they were made in China, but they were actually produced in North Korea. South Korean smugglers are involved in the circulation of the products, the lawmaker said citing data from the Korea Coast Guard (KCG).
Since 2010, the South Korean government has banned North Korean products from entering the South by imposing the sanctions called May 24 measures. The KCG had been in charge of finding people smuggling North Korean goods primarily sold here disguised as being from China.
The nuclear-armed regime has long operated textile factories in China to earn foreign currency in the face of international sanctions. The former conservative President Park Geun-hye had vowed to close Pyongyang's purse strings but apparently no state institution was committed to a crackdown.
In 2014, only one smuggler was caught. Before then, the KCG detected seven cases involving 23 offenders in 2013; and 12 cases involving 20 offenders in 2012. The smugglers dealt with various North Korean products such as clothes, clams, crabs, fish, coal and handicrafts all under Chinese trademarks.
The nation's spy agency, National Intelligence Service, took issue with loopholes in 2015 and the KCG established security offices in three cities ― Incheon, Sokcho and Donghae. Due to the shortage of manpower, however, the offices were not able to crack down on the smugglers.
The KCG's security department is still understaffed, Kim noted. "Considering the scale of the smuggled goods, it seems like organized crime," Kim said. "The KCG should rapidly build a system to detect smugglers and forgers."
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