Envoys involved in illegal activities to earn hard currency

By Kim Jae-kyoung

More nations should expel North Korean diplomats to crack down on their illegal activities overseas and completely cut off the regime's economic lifeline, experts said Friday.

"North Korean embassies are self-financed operations. In addition, they are expected to pay revolutionary tax to the Kim Jong-un regime," said Tara O, an adjunct fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS.

"So they partake in illicit activities to earn hard currency and take advantage of diplomatic immunity to not get discovered in the first place, or if caught, still be able to get out of the situation."

She explained that diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law in which diplomats are not subject to local courts' jurisdiction to ensure the efficient and effective performance of their official missions.

"So perhaps the best way to reduce North Korean diplomats' illegal activities is to reduce the diplomatic staff as some countries have done recently, or close them," she said.

"Reducing the demand for such illegal goods in the destination countries would also help," she added. "These are measures that add to the maximum pressure strategy."

Sean King, senior vice president of Park Strategies, concurred.

"Cracking down on Pyongyang's diplomatic corps is key, as its embassies function as an overseas office network for the multinational criminal enterprise that North Korea is," said the New York-based political and East Asia specialist.

In King's view, the likes of mainland China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and Syria never will, but as many enlightened countries as possible, "should cut off diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, expel its diplomats and shut down North Korean businesses in their respective countries."

Following the North's sixth nuclear test in September, a growing number of countries, including Spain, Mexico, Kuwait, Peru and Myanmar, have taken meaningful measures by expelling envoys or reducing the number of diplomats accredited there.

"States should also freeze the assets of North Korean entities and individuals, especially those known to be connected to the North's military and weapons programs," King said.

"America should warn its trading partners that countries that keep trading with North Korea will lose their access to the U.S. market."

NK's illegal activities in spotlight

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North Korea's diplomats based in China, Southeast Asia and Africa play crucial roles in various illegal activities.

According to a U.N. Panel of Experts report, North Korea attempted to sell enriched lithium metal online in Southeast Asia. Sales of the enriched lithium-6 isotope are prohibited by the U.N. as a nuclear-related item, yet General Precious Metal was selling it.

The point of contact for General Precious Metal was Yun Chol, who was a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in Beijing.

Another name for that company is the Green Pine Associated Corporation, and North Korea has accredited Green Pine's personnel as diplomats.

"So the diplomat was involved in the illicit activity or he had diplomatic cover for his illicit activities. It would therefore be helpful to minimize diplomatic ties with North Korea," O of CSIS said.

A recent report by The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime has lifted the lid on North Korean criminal activity in Africa, exposing diplomats and embassies linked to the illicit trade in rhino horns, ivory, cigarettes and minerals.

According to a research conducted by the Global Initiative, North Korean diplomatic passport holders have been linked to at least 18 cases of rhino horns and ivory smuggling in Africa and other countries over the past 30 years.

The most recent case on record occurred in October 2016 when a North Korean national travelling on a diplomatic passport was detained at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia en route to China.

On Oct. 13, 2016, the North Korean identified as Kim Thang-su was arrested at Bole International in transit from Zimbabwe as he was about to board a flight to Shanghai. Two hundred ivory bangles were allegedly found in his possession.

Kim is believed to be the North Korean trade representative in Harare, Zimbabwe. He was released without charge once he was identified as a diplomat.

O, the author of "Collapse of North Korea: Challenges, Planning and Geopolitics of Korean Unification," said that North Korean diplomats are known to routinely smuggle rhino horns from Mozambique and South Africa, and ivory from Angola, Ethiopia and Congo.

"They obtain illegal horns and tusks of protected wildlife, and fly them in their bags to China, where they have ties to organized crime," she said.

"Given the high demand for rhino horns and ivory in China and Southeast Asia; these rival the value of gold on the black market, ensuring steady foreign currency earnings for the North Korean diplomats," she added.

The research by the Global Initiative also shows that cigarette-smuggling in Europe, Asia, South America and other countries remains another lucrative outlet for North Korean diplomats seeking to fund the regime and line their pockets.

Julian Rademeyer, a senior research fellow with the Global Initiative, said in the report that North Korea's smuggling networks, front companies and state-sponsored criminal actors are sophisticated, efficient and adept at circumventing sanctions, laws and regulations.

"The evidence presented in this report, coupled with the testimony of high-level defectors and government officials in Africa and Asia with knowledge of criminal activity in Africa, suggests that it is far more concerted and widespread than previously thought," he said.