North Korea earns $500 to $700 million annually by making and selling bootleg U.S. and Japanese cigarettes, a former U.S. top official said.
"Counterfeit tobacco products are one of the largest, probably the largest, single income source to the North Korean regime," David Asher, former senior adviser to the East Asian and Pacific Affairs bureau at the U.S. State Department, told Radio Free Asia on Aug. 16.
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Fake "Mild Seven" cigarettes confiscated by authorities in South Korea.
Yonhap
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Asher said the North operates as many as 10 plants across the country to make fake U.S. and Japanese cigarettes.
Asher said the cigarettes are put into containers and sent through China to Japan and the United States.
He also called for greater efforts by Japan to block the North's massive shipping scheme. "They [Japan] need to start inspecting containers more aggressively.”
Tokyo recently ordered an investigation into North Korean-made counterfeit Japanese cigarettes reportedly circulated in China.
Japanese media previously reported that North Korea had counterfeited and sold large quantities of "Mild Seven" cigarettes to Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Last year, thousands of tobacco products made in North Korea were confiscated at airports in Taiwan and the Philippines.
North Korea makes about 2 billion packs of fake U.S. and Japanese cigarettes a year, according to Japanese press reports. All the profits go to the North's government and military, Asher said.
North Korea also counterfeits U.S.-brand cigarettes, including products of Philip Morris USA, according to U.S. officials.
"It's hard to quantify how much impact this has because it's outside of normal channels," Dana Bolden, senior media manager for the company, told RFA in January.
According to Asher, as much as 40 percent of North Korea's total earnings are believed to come from illegal activities such as counterfeiting, drug trafficking and weapons smuggling.
"North Korean diplomats may be engaged in the illegal activities, making use of their diplomatic privileges," he said.
Marlboro is the top cigarette brand forged by North Korea. Forgeries include such Japanese brands as Mild Seven and Seven Star, as well as British tobacco brands.
