Crime & Criminal Justice

[North Korea's economic changes] suggest it is not under as much pressure from sanctions as before, and that the [Kim] regime has proved to be very good at adapting to international financial pressure.

Methadone is an opioid and [meth] amphetamine is a stimulant — they are made with different materials and have different effects — so you could easily have a situation in which both are popular. Medicine shortages and lack of availability of health care in North Korea also contribute to the popularity of illicit drugs.

The overwhelming preponderance of evidence for years pointed to official North Korean involvement [in international drug trade]. The triads, the Yakuza in Japan — the question was one of control...It was an arrangement for mutual benefit, and it lasts as long as is convenient for both sides. These were high-quality, chemically pure shipments that were professionally packaged and shipped in large quantities. That was the defining trait of North Korean meth seizures from the late ‘90s to around 2005.

[Methamphetamine] is a product you can make in bathtubs or trailers. You have a wide range of people involved in production and trafficking [in North Korea].