Crime in Korea. South Korea is a land of stark contrasts. A selection of materials from Irina Malenko. South Korean girls can't see themselves without makeup
In the life of North Korea, there is one side that is not customary to talk about. Probably in vain, because it is in this area that Korea has significant achievements. We are talking about crime, or rather, that in the DPRK the crime rate is just very low. The countries of East Asia, that is, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea, have one feature - there is almost no crime in them, and some types of crime simply do not exist. In terms of theft and embezzlement, everything is in order - they take bribes and steal, and, probably, even more than in European countries.
However, there is very little violent street crime in East Asian countries. That is, the streets of East Asia are safe. Japan and South Korea are among the safest countries in the world. In China, things are a little worse, but also very good. Many can say, they say, the Japanese and Koreans feel good, they are rich. With their wealth, stealing, walking with a knife at night, is not at all necessary. However, this argument is shattered by the experience of North Korea.
Although North Korea is a poor country, its crime rate is low. Of course, it is impossible to speak with full confidence about the criminality of North Korea, since all judicial and police statistics in this country are top secret information and have not been published for seventy years.
The official point of view is that there can be no crime in a wonderful country like the DPRK, in a country ruled by such outstanding people as the Great Leader Generalissimo Kim Il Sung, the Great Leader Kim Jong Il and Marshal Kim Jong Un. This, of course, is an exaggeration; there is still crime.
I had a lot of conversations with North Koreans, and I couldn't help but notice: before there was no crime, and in the 1990s - when everything fell apart, when there was famine in the country, when the economy stopped functioning. People told creepy stories about what happened in Korea in the 90s, but there were no stories about murders. Yes, sometimes corpses were lying on the street, it was the case. But for someone to kill someone for a sack of rice and corn, you still heard about it, but there were very few such cases. Since the late 90s, the elements of the market began to rage in North Korea, partly permitted, partly even encouraged - and at the same time unofficial, black. Rich people appeared in North Korea, a large number of semi-legal medium and small enterprises appeared. All this was similar to the events in Central Asia, but only in a more exaggerated version. It would seem that in such a situation one can expect a wave of racketeering (suffice it to recall the "dashing 90s" in Russia), but for some reason there was no racketeering in North Korea - it still isn't.
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South Korea is one of the safest countries in the world.
Crime Korea is low. Local residents can afford not to worry about the left things and unlocked cars, which, apparently, indicates unostentatious security. Some serious crimes, for example, murders, become an occasion for newspaper hype. In any case, you should not be completely careless, especially in crowded (rare pickpocket) or deserted (hooligan or robber) places. However, the likelihood of being a victim of a crime in Korea is about the lowest possible.
Just in case, it should be remembered that in the most touristic places in Seoul, there are still special tourist police officers who are supposed to help foreign tourists solve their problems. They can be identified by their black trousers, purple (blue) jacket, and black beret.
In addition, there is a special hotline for tourists (1330), where you can get the necessary information in a language (not yet in Russian, but they speak English). The Koreans also wrote a safety guide for tourists, which can be obtained for free at. Unfortunately, it has not yet been translated into Russian, but there is also an English version. You can download the guide.
Diseases
However, one should not be completely careless. In 2015, the so-called MERS virus(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) or coronavirus(coronavirus). As the name implies, this virus is not a local Korean, but entered the country from the Middle East. Few cases have been identified in Korea (several hundred people), but among them there is a fairly high mortality rate (about 10-20% of MERS cases, taking into account unconfirmed carriers of the MERS virus, but seeking help - less than 1%).
The symptoms are flu-like (fever 38°C, general malaise, cough, shortness of breath, sweating). The virus can cause pneumonia and subsequent failure of internal organs, which is dangerous. It is also not superfluous to note that most of those who died from coronavirus are people of age and with poor health.
Just in case, here is a list of preventive measures that should protect against the MERS virus:
- Do not communicate with sick people and people with symptoms of coronavirus.
- Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, follow the rules of hygiene, brush your teeth
- Avoid touching eyes, nose, mouth (i.e. any mucous membranes) with dirty hands
- Cover up when you cough or sneeze
As you can see, the same was written about the sensational bird and swine flu. Similarities even in symptoms, mortality estimates and prevention methods. Taking into account the fact that, according to some information, the virus can be transmitted from sick camels, it can be called "camel" by analogy. However, these are my speculations. I would venture to suggest that raised around MERS the hype will subside, as will the panic that has swept the world over bird flu and swine flu.
Nowadays the coronavirus outbreak is officially considered extinguished. This was announced at the highest level on 07/28/2015. The last patient with the MERS virus was identified a few weeks before this date. A total of 36 people have died from the coronavirus in Korea.
Bad weather
South Korea is located on the Pacific coast, so heavy rains, typhoons and floods that can hit the country seasonally and regularly cannot be ruled out. Usually these natural disasters, if they occur, then from August to September. The rest of the time, such events are practically excluded.
Everyone, without exception, should be careful on the road. Korean drivers love to get drunk. And this also applies to drivers. Unfortunately, accidents are not uncommon in the country.
There are many amazing countries in the world with a unique national culture, traditions, a mentality that has developed over the centuries, historical and natural attractions, which are visited by tens of thousands of tourists every year. Undoubtedly, South Korea also belongs to such countries. We will also go to this Asian country to present to our reader some of the most interesting facts about South Korea.
Country name
The name of the country is written in two hieroglyphs, and literally they are translated as "Country of morning freshness." By the way, these hieroglyphs have other meanings, but the Koreans opted for this, and this is how the romantic name turned out, which was fixed in the world for South Korea.
Uniqueness
The South Korean language originated in ancient times and is considered one of the most distinctive on the planet. Many national traditions trace their history back to ancient times and are highly revered in the modern world.
Security and crime
Leading global sociological companies call South Korea one of the safest countries in the world. Street and violent crime is practically absent, which was the result of the high standard of living and the mentality of the Koreans.
More on crime...
The crimes that have occurred in the country are reported in newspapers and on television during the week, so that the entire population of the country knows all the details and which criminal will be punished.
Education
Speaking briefly about education in the country, Koreans have developed a real cult of education, and students and schoolchildren study for 11-13 hours a day. Young people believe that education is a kind of bridge leading to great opportunities.
Special mindset
All experts note that South Korean students have a special mindset, high intelligence and can be smart. We also note that the literacy rate of the population is 99%.
Prestigious profession
One of the most prestigious and highly paid professions in Korea is doctors. Because of this, parents are willing to pay huge amounts of money so that their boy or girl learns to be a doctor.
Plastic surgery
People from all over the world come to plastic surgery clinics in South Korea to change their appearance. But Korean women, graduating from a university or college, give themselves a kind of gift, fix their eyelids or change the shape of their nose.
artificial beauty
In the dispute of Asian beauties, it is believed that Korean women are the most beautiful, ahead of Chinese and Japanese women. But here, do not forget that for many Korean beauties, beauty is the result of surgical intervention, and it is almost impossible to meet a Korean woman without makeup on the street.
By the way, Korean men are no less than women obsessed with cosmetics.
Everyone's phones
All residents of South Korea have mobile phones, even people without a fixed place of residence. And, most likely, these phones are domestically produced by Samsung. But cellular communication here is quite expensive.
Purity
The streets of cities and towns surprise with their incredible cleanliness, but what is remarkable is that urns are a rather rare occurrence within urban settlements.
Army
Historically, South Korea has had to have a capable military. The country has universal conscription, and every guy is required to do military service. An exception is made only for the disabled.
Due to the industriousness of the Koreans and the high development of technology, the South Korean army is one of the largest in the world today.
Koreans love to have a tasty and satisfying meal, and therefore, when meeting with friends and acquaintances, they ask “How did you eat today?”, and not the usual European “How are you?”. We already wrote about this in an article about the world.
A Korean can talk about every dish of national cuisine for hours.
Alcohol
Alcoholic drinks, like food, also occupy a special place in the life of South Koreans. According to the statistics of alcohol consumption per capita, Koreans are ahead of Russians.
In the company, only the elder can hold a glass of beer with one hand and pour the drink to the others. All junior participants in the feast hold glasses with both hands.
Any Korean man knows a lot of table entertainment and toast. But they prefer to sit on the floor, and not on a sofa or chair, and their favorite alcoholic drink is soju.
Foreigners
Naturally, foreigners in the country are immediately visible, and Koreans divide them into two categories - English teachers and students who arrived in the country on an exchange. But Koreans always treat tourists with respect.
There are no stray dogs and cats on the streets. Shelters have been created for such animals, and Koreans are happy to take pets from shelters to their homes.
Attitude towards smoking
Smoking in this Asian country is possible everywhere, and if among men this addiction is quite common, then there are very few women who smoke. There is practically no problem of drug addiction in the country.
Family relationships
Young people in South Korea try to build their first love relationships on the example of South Korean melodramas. But in family life, unfaithful husbands are not uncommon in Korean society. Moreover, there is where to turn around, because according to statistics, 25% of Korean women are engaged in prostitution.
conservatism
South Korea is a conservative state, where much is regulated by traditions and state laws. For example, until 1979, clothes for women and girls were clearly regulated in the country. Not only the length of the skirt was set, but also the hairstyle and hair length.
parks
There are 20 national parks in a small area, among which theme parks are especially popular.
There is even a park-museum of toilets here, which exhibits the rarest exhibits of toilets from various historical eras, and one of the parks is lined with sculptures of male genital organs.
Phobias
Despite the large use of alcohol, he is recognized as the number one enemy in the country. Koreans are terribly afraid of the color red, which is why they rarely use it in clothes and in home decoration.
special holiday
In the country, Valentine's Day is celebrated on a special scale and romantically. But, unlike other countries, it is dedicated to the representatives of the stronger sex in Korea.
Politeness
The country traditionally treats elders well and respectfully, and at a meeting they greet even strangers.
In Korea, even a special handshake ceremony has been developed, and Koreans, in order not to seem impolite, strictly follow this tradition.
Sudden jump
Until the 60s of the last century, Korea was among the poorest countries in the world, but a sharp economic leap brought it to a leading position in the world. Today it is a leader in the production of electronics, as well as automobiles.
Archeology
Many ancient archeological monuments have been explored on the territory of the country, and the Dharani Scroll is recognized by scientists around the world as the oldest book edition in history.
Tourists who come to South Korea are often surprised that here you can safely walk around large cities day and night. And therefore, it is not at all difficult for foreigners to believe that the problem of crime in this country practically does not exist. As strange as it may seem, it is true. Or rather, almost. In South Korea, as in any other country, of course, there is both domestic and organized crime, but it has its own specific features here and does not manifest itself as clearly as in other countries.
Spawn of the Yakuza
The history of organized crime in South Korea is closely linked to the Japanese yakuza. However, there is one very significant difference in the approaches of researchers to this issue: some argue that Korean groups appeared to fight the yakuza, while others believe that it was the Japanese gangster clans that contributed to the creation of organized criminal communities in Korea. The latter point of view seems to us more correct, given that there were and still are many Koreans in the ranks of the yakuza themselves.
Of the total number of yakuza in Japan, Koreans make up about 15%, and in the early 1990s. Eighteen of the 90 major bosses in the Inagawa-kai were ethnic Koreans. Although ethnic Koreans born already in Japan make up a significant proportion of the Japanese population, they are still considered foreigners simply residing in the country due to their nationality. But Koreans, who often shun the legitimate trade, are recruited into yakuza clans for the very reason that they conform to society's "outcast" image.
The man who paved the way for Koreans in Japanese society was the Japanese-Korean yakuza who founded the Tosei-kai (Tōsei-kai), Hisayuki Matiya's godfather. Born in 1923, he was given the name Chong Gwon Yong and gradually became a major street thug who saw many opportunities in Japan. As a result, Matia managed to conquer this country, after which he began to establish contacts with the United States, in particular, he collaborated with their counterintelligence, which appreciated his persistent anti-communist convictions. While the Japanese yakuza were imprisoned or under close surveillance by the US occupying forces, the Korean yakuza were quite free to take over the most lucrative black markets. But instead of competing with the Japanese yakuza, Matii formed an alliance with them and remained on close terms with them throughout his underground career. In 1948, Matii created his Tosei-kai (“Voice of the Eastern Gan”) group, and soon the Tosei-kai became such a powerful group in Tokyo that it was even known as the “Ginza police” and even the Yamaguchi-gumi had to negotiate with Matii about so that their grouping continues to operate within Tokyo. Matia's vast empire included tourism, entertainment, bars and restaurants, prostitution and oil imports. He made his fortune investing in real estate. More importantly, Matii acted as an intermediary between the Korean government and the yakuza, allowing Japanese criminals to do "business" in Korea.
The result of such cooperation with the yakuza was the formation in South Korea of large national criminal groups: Pan-Sobang, Yanggyni and Tongzhe, created in the image and likeness of the yakuza clans. According to South Korean authorities, by 1996 the Pan Sobang and Yanggeen clans ceased to exist as a result of the arrest of their heads and most of the leading members, and the Tongjae clan disintegrated because its leader was forced to hide abroad. Of course, this is hard to believe - in the history of the yakuza there have already been cases when the clans were allegedly liquidated, but in reality they continued to work under a different name. And nothing is said about success in the fight against the Paekkho Pa and Yongdo Pa clans. Be that as it may, the fact remains that according to unofficial estimates of representatives of law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, more than 300 criminal groups operate in the country. Despite such a seemingly large number, the activities of these groups are almost invisible to others, especially foreign tourists, since these groups of gangpe ((Korean 깡패 - “hooligan”) work exclusively in illegal areas, practically without interfering in the activities of law-abiding citizens and companies.
Three "families" of the South Korean "mafia"
There are three main groups in the Republic of Korea today: Ssan Yong Pha (쌍용파, Double Dragon Group), Chil Song Pha (칠성파, Seven Star Group), Hwang Song Sang Pha (환송성파, "Hwang Sung San Group); each of them includes many small local divisions, and many of them are not interconnected in any way.
"Ssan Yong Pha". This group is considered the most famous in Korean society. Her history is not known, but she is considered the oldest of the "Three Families of the Korean Mafia". The presence of this group in the criminal world in the late 90s and early 2000s was not very noticeable, but in 2005 Ssang Yong Pha made itself known by destroying several nightclubs and business centers. The group's main zone of influence is Gwangju, which is the sixth largest city in South Korea. Each member of Ssang Yong Pha gets a tattoo of two dragons intertwined with each other on their shoulder.
"Chil Song Pha". It is believed that this is the largest of the three groups. Most likely, the group got its name (“Gang of Seven Stars”) because its origins were seven founders, two of whom were subsequently killed, and three were sentenced to long terms on charges of blackmailing the director of a large construction company and extorting more than 20 million dollars. The group gained fame in the criminal world due to the fact that its methods are similar to those of the Japanese yakuza, however, unlike the Japanese gangsters, the Korean gang operates much more secretly, trying not to fall into the field of view of the police. Chil Song Pha is mainly active in Busan and is considered the most powerful South Korean crime group. Each member of the gang gets a tattoo on his chest in the form of seven connected stars.
"Hwang Song Sang Pha". The history of its origin is unknown, as well as the origin of the name. It is believed that the name is composed of the last syllables of the names of its three founders, who belonged to the Son clan, and the group appeared as a result of dissociation from the well-known group in the city of Suwon, Puk Mun Pha (북문파). This group is distinguished by the fact that it has extensive international ties, interacting with criminal organizations from the United States, Japan, China, Mexico, and Brazil. The zones of influence of Hwang Song San Pha in Korea are the cities of Suwon and Gunsan. Each member of the organization who has reached the age of 18 must get a tattoo in the form of the Chinese character 孫, denoting belonging to the Song clan (Chinese - Sun).
invisible mafia
It must be admitted that the existence of organized criminal groups in South Korea remains unnoticed by the majority of the country's population and visiting foreign tourists. The Korean government has generally been quite successful in curbing their activities by keeping local criminal gangs in check and preventing them from interfering with legitimate business. Traditionally, organized crime in Korea dealt with illegal or semi-legal business, where the authorities turned a blind eye to its activities. Legally operating trading shops, shops, workshops, not to mention medium and large companies, usually do not have any dealings with criminal structures, and they, in turn, do not encroach on legal business. Therefore, illegal areas of activity, such as formally prohibited prostitution or gambling, are under the jurisdiction of criminal groups. In general, the activities that criminal organizations are involved in in Korea are similar to those of criminal organizations in other countries:
Gambling. In Korea, the opening of public gambling houses such as casinos for local citizens is prohibited. However, criminal gangs create illegal gambling houses or equip secret rooms in licensed gambling premises. Corrupt officials and police officers are often involved in this activity, who “cover up” this business.
"Debt collection". Recovery of delinquent loans is one of the traditional areas of activity of criminal gangs in South Korea. Private lenders and credit organizations often turn to criminal communities in order to recover overdue debts from clients. At the same time, in recent years, criminal structures themselves have been actively financing credit organizations or creating their own. There you can easily get a loan without any delay and collecting a bunch of papers, but at a huge percentage. Unpaid risks losing everything - gangsters do not stand on ceremony. From time to time, however, they are approached to deal with non-payment of debts, and sometimes quite reputable businessmen do this, since it is sometimes very difficult to get debts through the courts in South Korea, and after the recent economic crisis, the number of outstanding debts has increased dramatically while the effectiveness of litigation has decreased. organs.
Prostitution. Another very profitable source of income is prostitution. In Korea, prostitution is prohibited by law, but illegal brothels exist, as does the trade in "human goods." This business is characterized by a high degree of internationalization, since prostitutes are supplied, as a rule, from other countries - China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Russia. At the same time, girls are often involved in this activity by deceit, promising work as dancers or waitresses, but in reality being sold into sexual slavery.
Racket. This is a traditional source of income for any criminal community in almost all countries of the world. South Korean gangsters are no different from their counterparts in this regard, imposing tribute on street vendors, bars, restaurants, fish markets, etc. However, tribute is levied only on those who themselves work in violation of the law, while law-abiding merchants do not have any problems with crime.
Building bussiness. Like the Yakuza, South Korean criminal organizations are heavily involved in the construction business. Firms controlled by gangsters get the most lucrative contracts, as their competitors are forced to either refuse to participate in the competition or set deliberately losing conditions. As a result, it turns out that 2-3 companies controlled by criminal structures remain in the tender: one of them receives a contract, the other (or others) receive subcontracts from the winner.
Drug trade. The drug trade is the main source of income for organized crime in many countries, but in South Korea it is not very widespread and does not bring such income to Korean gangs as, for example, their American and "colleagues". Korean crime began to master this type of activity quite late, since the heads of the clans, not without reason, feared that their "fighters" themselves would become involved in drug use - they were punished very cruelly for this. However, over time, South Korean criminal groups got involved in this business, which is also international: almost no drugs are produced in South Korea (with the exception of small batches of synthetic drugs), their main volume is imported from China through triads, and South Korea is, first of all, not so much sales market, how much transshipment transit base. As for the arms trade, this area is almost out of sight of South Korean criminal groups, since this business is too risky - South Korea has strict laws on this matter, so most local gangsters prefer to do without weapons at all.
Crime International
If in South Korea itself national criminal groups are almost invisible, then abroad the activities of criminal structures created by ethnic Koreans are better known. About 700,000 people of Korean origin live in Japan, many of whom have lived here for generations, but are not considered its subjects and cannot get a decent job. It is they who make up the "core" of some of the criminal groups in Japan, allowing the Yakuza to more easily establish contacts abroad - in South Korea, the USA, China, and Russia.
According to law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Korea, in 1988 even a kind of alliance was created between the criminal groups of South Korea and the yakuza, in the creation of which three leaders of Korean clans took part, one of whom was hired as a leading consultant for the Sanryung company, which was controlled by yakuza. In March 1990, four members of the Paekho Pa clan operating in Busan underwent training in Japan with funds provided by the Japanese Inagawa-Kai syndicate, and at the end of 1990, members of the South Korean Yongdo Pa clan visited Japanese "colleagues" for several days.
According to Interpol, there have been cases of gambling-related crimes committed by members of criminal groups created by ethnic Koreans in a number of Asia-Pacific countries, in particular in the Philippines and Macao, China. In addition to gambling, Korean criminal groups operating in various countries of the region are also involved in foreign exchange smuggling, extortion, and so on.
It should be noted that outside of South Korea, Korean criminal groups are most widespread in the United States, where they vary greatly in scale. Most notable are the small gangpae gangs that have formed the stereotype of the "Korean mafia" - gangsters in baggy clothes who drive low Hondas, wear caps with the inscription "Korean Pride", speak very poor English and burn cigarettes as a sign of belonging to the gang. on hands. Such gangpae are usually engaged in theft and local racketeering. There are, however, large Korean groups in the United States engaged in human trafficking, pimping, armed robbery, and extortion on an especially large scale.
Fighting Organized Crime in South Korea
Speaking about countering the activities of organized crime in South Korea, many experts note that the main problem is the involvement of a large number of teenagers, due to which a new generation of gangpoe is being formed. The problem is that it is difficult to deal with the participation of minors in criminal gangs, since parents and close acquaintances most often prefer to turn a blind eye to this, since any connection, and even more so kinship, with criminals in Korean society is considered extremely shameful. And for Koreans, there is little worse than “losing face.”
At the same time, it is precisely this perception that is one of the reasons why the activities of criminal groups in South Korea are hardly noticeable, and their activity is low. Street crime, which everyone pays priority attention to, is minimized here, and large-scale crimes are mainly committed in the economic sphere - it is not for nothing that South Korea is sometimes called the “country of unpaid taxes”. To many violations in the economic sphere - the criminal business of "white collars" - the attitude in South Korean society is quite loyal, many do not consider tax evasion a serious crime. That is why various financial pyramids, construction frauds, etc. have become widespread in South Korea.
It should also be noted that South Korean legislation plays a significant role in combating organized crime. Thus, according to the law on punishment for organized crime, if a member of an organized crime group commits a crime in order to maintain the organization, the amount of punishment for him can be increased by half compared to an ordinary criminal. In addition, in order to combat money laundering, illegally obtained, since 1993, all citizens of the country can conduct financial transactions only on their own behalf. In 1995, a special act for the prevention of illegal drug trafficking came into force, which provides for the confiscation of illegal income and property obtained from illegal drug-related activities and profits from illegal drug trafficking.
According to the legislation on combating especially serious crimes, mere membership in a criminal group is a crime if this group is recognized as a criminal organization. In 1993, the act was amended, according to which anyone who forces or induces another person to join a criminal group can be sentenced to two years or more in prison, and anyone who supplies money to a criminal organization can be sentenced to three or more years in prison.
In addition, since June 1, 2000, the law on the protection of victims and witnesses of serious crimes, such as organized crime, drug trafficking and the organization of a criminal group, has been in force. This law, like the U.S. Witness Protection Program, includes maintaining complete confidentiality during investigations and trials, covering the costs of moving a witness and transferring them to another job, and taking security measures to protect them.
Organized crime in North Korea: all at the highest level?
There is practically no information about the situation with crime in the DPRK - the state is closed. Of course, even here there cannot be no domestic crime - petty crimes, theft, domestic murders, etc., although the North Korean authorities deny even this. However, if there are prisons in North Korea, then there are also criminals - not only dissidents are sent to jail. But this has nothing to do with organized crime.
We can judge organized crime in the DPRK only by publications in the Western press, referring to the testimonies of refugees and intelligence services. Of course, they should be treated with a great deal of skepticism, given that foreign media traditionally demonize North Korea, presenting it as a "fiend of evil." However, some data still deserve attention. According to Western publications, the only organized crime group in North Korea is a structure that includes representatives of the country's top leadership. This is the so-called Fakel group.
The first information about the Torch was published by The Washington Times after the scandal with the sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan. Then an article was published stating that "Western intelligence services have established that a group of offspring of high-ranking party leaders and military leaders of North Korea, which includes the sons of Kim Jong Il, is involved in illegal activities around the world, in particular, in the distribution of counterfeit hundred dollar bills and drug trafficking. In particular, the US Treasury believes that North Korea is engaged in counterfeiting - both the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit $100 bills, maintaining strong ties with international criminal structures and financial institutions.
Illegal activities, according to the Americans, were (and probably still are) engaged in a certain group called "Torch" (acting under the guise of a special department of the Executive Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea) led by Oh Se Wan, the son of a prominent functionary from the National Defense Committee North Korea's O Kuk Yol, who played a key role in the transfer of power from Kim Jong Il to his son Kim Jong Un. According to American intelligence, it was Oh Se Wan who was involved in the incident with the North Korean ship "Pong Su", which was detained by the Australian authorities on April 16, 2003 with a cargo of heroin, as well as in the distribution of counterfeit dollars in Las Vegas in 2004 in Las Vegas. Vegas. At the same time, the dollars were made of exceptionally high quality - after all, according to the CIA, they were printed at the state mint in Pyongyang. Counterfeit currency was also exported through China and Macau to other countries in Southeast Asia, where it was exchanged for real banknotes at a 5:1 rate. Banco Delta Asia (Macau) was used to distribute fakes, against which the United States imposed special sanctions (lifted in 2007 in response to Pyongyang's promise to abandon nuclear weapons).
According to the Americans, the current leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, the youngest son of Kim Jong Il, was also associated with the Fakel group. As for the middle son - Kim Jong Chol - it is believed that the main reasons that he was not considered for the role of successor at all were allegedly his "effeminateness" (in normal language, this is a penchant for homosexuality) and addiction to drugs - according to the American intelligence, he regularly received heroin from members of the Fakel group. After a series of international scandals, the group temporarily curtailed its activities abroad, but did not stop its work.
Of course, the statements of the Americans can be treated differently, because the information they provide may well be disinformation. However, after the release of this publication, other data followed.
North Korean drug business
In 2011, journalists from National Public Radio (an organization that brings together almost all US radio stations) spoke with a refugee from the DPRK, Ma Yun Ae, who previously worked in the Pyongyang police and was engaged in the fight against petty drug traffickers (the activity itself already indicates that in North Korea has an illegal drug trade). According to her, the state itself remains the largest drug trafficker in the country. During Ma's tenure in the 1980s, Korea specialized in the export of opiates, but then amphetamines gained popularity. The main consumer of North Korean drugs is China, which also plays the role of a transit point. In fact, Ma's task was to ensure state monopoly and eliminate competition from small traders.
According to American estimates, poppy fields in the DPRK occupy from 4,000 to 7,000 hectares, mainly in the north of the country. This allows the production of up to 50 tons of raw opium per year, which is enough to produce 5 tons of heroin. Although this is almost nothing on a global scale, heroin sales abroad turn out to be a good source of income for the North Korean government. Since the 1970s, more than 20 North Korean diplomats have been arrested for their involvement in drug smuggling to both Asian and European countries. In recent years, however, no major revelations have occurred.
It is worth noting that in China, the North Korean drug problem was officially recognized by the authorities: in 2006, the deputy head of China's public security bureau, Meng Hongwei, demanded decisive action against North Korean drug traffickers who worked in China's Jilin province. There is a version that thanks to established links between North Korean and Chinese criminal groups, heroin produced in the DPRK is often distributed from China and is perceived as Chinese.
Drugs from the DPRK are also widely sold in Japan, although it is not heroin that is most often found there, but synthetic substances, such as methamphetamine. Experts say that North Korean synthetic drugs are of the highest quality. Over the past five years, Japanese authorities have managed to detect more than one and a half tons of crystallized methamphetamine from North Korea. According to rough estimates, the share of such substances from the DPRK in the Japanese market can reach 30%.
In the summer of 2011, reporters from the international news channel Sky News provided the world with further evidence that North Korean officials were involved in the trafficking of illicit drugs. Posing as potential buyers, the TV men met with a North Korean drug dealer in an abandoned house in northern China. The communist huckster brought in three bags of what he called pure North Korean heroin. He said that within two weeks he could bring up to a kilogram of the drug without risk to himself and his clients. When crossing the Korean-Chinese border, the drug courier gives a bribe to border guards in the amount of 400-500 won (2.5-3 dollars) and has no problems roaming back and forth with goods, then with money. A comrade from the DPRK takes heroin for sale from a party functionary, transactions are made under the portrait of Kim Il Sung.
And in February 2012, Yun Sang-hyun, a member of the South Korean parliamentary committee on international trade and unification affairs, said that more than half of all drugs in South Korea are illegally supplied from the North. “North Korea's border with China has seen a huge increase in drug traffic, and from there (from China) it ends up in South Korea. In particular, 57.3% of foreign-made methamphetamines detected in South Korea in 2011 came through China, presumably from North Korea,” Yoon Sang-hyun said. According to him, "Drug production in North Korea is carried out both at the state level through the 39th department of the Workers' Party of Korea, and at the private level." The parliamentarian added that "three provinces in northeast China serve as bases for the transfer of drugs."
In early December 2016, Radio Free Asia reported that North Koreans were making money by selling large amounts of marijuana to Chinese tourists visiting the Naseong Special Economic Zone, which borders China's Jilin province. At the same time, it is noted that “the cultivation of hemp in the DPRK is not prohibited by law. The inhabitants of the country began to mass-breed it in the early 1980s for the oil from the seeds of the plant, which they used for cooking. The then leader of the country, Kim Il Sung, encouraged this practice. Currently, only a small part of the people of the DPRK still cultivates hemp for oil. Now thickets of wild hemp can be seen in different parts of North Korea. At the same time, most local residents do not even know that the use of marijuana is illegal in many states.”
Last summer, many foreign and Russian media, citing a publication in the Telegraph, wrote that “in North Korea, workers are given drugs to speed up the construction of buildings.” According to journalists, after using illegal drugs, builders feel euphoric, and their appetite decreases. It was crystal methamphetamine, a Class A drug that lasts up to 12 hours. The exact extent of the use of this drug is unknown, but the Telegraph does not exclude that the production of methamphetamine in North Korea is on a state scale.
Given the extremely scarce flow of truthful information about the situation in the DPRK, it is very difficult to separate the truth from disinformation. But it is worth paying attention to the fact that some publications in the foreign press say that the fight against the drug trade in the DPRK is still being carried out, and rather harshly. For example, a Los Angeles Times article published in January 2014, “In North Korea, meth is offered as casually as a cup of tea,” notes: “In the 1990s, the North Korean government produced opium, meth and other drugs for Service 39, a secret service that collects hard currency for the late leader Kim Jong Il. However, according to a State Department report on the International Drug Control Strategy, the North Korean government has largely withdrawn from the drug business. When the government controlled the business, drugs were strictly for export. The move into private hands has made the drug more widely available inside North Korea. North Koreans say that meth first appeared on the streets around 2005 and that it was from Hamhung, the former center of the country's pharmaceutical and chemical industries and therefore a city with many unemployed scientists and technologists. Production then moved to Chongjin and the capital Pyongyang.” That is, private individuals engaged in the production of methamphetamine in the DPRK, producing it in artisanal conditions and sending the bulk of it smuggled to China.
It is noteworthy that the article also cites information from the case of the detention of a group of drug traffickers operating in Thailand and the Philippines, which was considered in New York court in December 2013. Those arrested who tried to smuggle amphetamine into the United States told the DEA that it was the remains of methamphetamine produced in the DPRK, where "the North Korean government destroyed all the laboratories."
As the Los Angeles Times notes, "It's not clear if the government is serious about cracking down on the drug trade, or if it's just trying to regain control of the lucrative business." However, information is immediately given from the North Korean defector Lee, released in 2011 from the North Korean camp, who claims that “about 1.2 thousand prisoners (up to 40%) are in jail for selling methamphetamine.” Thus, allegations that the North Korean authorities allegedly encourage the drug trade should be considered, to put it mildly, unfounded.
Fake "superdollars" - a propaganda "duck" or an achievement of the Mint of the DPRK?
Another area of criminal activity in the DPRK is often referred to by Western media as the production and distribution of counterfeit dollar bills. According to Leonid Petrov, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Australian National University, the DPRK had quite a lot of experience in making fake money: “Back in the 1980s, there was a workshop in Pyongyang for making counterfeit dollars, which were including in the Soviet Union, and after its collapse also in the CIS”.
North Korean counterfeiters were most notorious at the end of the 20th century, when the United States discovered counterfeit $100 bills on the world market that were virtually indistinguishable from real ones. For their high quality, American financial officials even began to call them superbanknotes. The United States blamed North Korea for the production of superbanknotes: this was indicated by reports of dissidents who fled the country, as well as the fact that North Korean officials abroad were caught several times trying to pay them off. According to the US Treasury Department, more than two-thirds of all counterfeit dollars circulating in the world are North Korean-made banknotes.
The North Korean authorities, of course, deny all accusations, and some experts are inclined to believe them. The fact is that the production of counterfeit banknotes of this quality requires extremely expensive equipment, and the profit from the distribution of banknotes, which was estimated at $15-25 million a year, can hardly cover the costs of their production.
Of course, much of the testimonies of refugees from the DPRK and these intelligence services may be just a tool of information warfare, a propaganda move aimed at creating the image of North Korea as an "evil empire" - we ourselves went through all this during the Cold War. But there were also facts of detection of attempts to smuggle drugs and counterfeit banknotes across the Russian-North Korean border. How to treat it? Is this evidence that the Americans are right, or are these just isolated isolated cases, on which global conclusions should not be drawn?
It is time to understand one thing: crime will exist as long as social inequality exists, as long as society is divided into rich and poor, as long as countries are divided into leaders and outcasts. It is the outcasts who are the contingent that joins the ranks of crime, because the beggars see no other way to survive. And there is no other way to fight crime than to eliminate inequality. But those who run organized crime communities will never allow this. Threads from criminal gangs stretch up to the highest circles, to the economic and political elite. This system is beneficial to those who manage it. It's just business.
Comments on the level of crime and security in Seoul.
“The Same One” Itaewon
When I was going on a trip to the Land of Dreams, I paid tribute to my paranoia and inquired about what was happening in Seoul.
Of course, I understood that I was not going to Somalia, but still ...
On the one hand, the developed countries of Asia generally have a low crime rate.
On the other hand, there are stories about global fights of American Marines in bars, homeless people running after tourists, some soldiers fleeing the army from hazing, someone was killed and raped ...
Literally a week before my arrival, in one of the bars on Itaewon, the brave marines did not share something and smashed the bar - the police just watched and could not do anything.
In short: hello, our 90s ...
However, in order to truly judge what is happening in Seoul, you need to go there and see it.
Yes, there are a lot of Marines on Itaewon.
After all, the Americans have a military base in the area.
Blacks are huge - you feel like you are in some Bronx.
There are also homeless people in Seoul - these can be seen on the subway closer to closing - they go to bed.
Yes, and during the day at quiet stations meet.
But if you don’t cling to one or the other, they don’t care about you.
And in general, in South Korea, global indifference attracts attention - no one is interested in you exactly until you show yourself.
In a good or bad sense of the word.
Until then, they just ignore you.
The city is full of video cameras, which are not available except in the toilet ...
And even then it’s not a fact that they are not there either.
The police are present on the streets, but they are really noticeable only at night, when police cars are parked at every intersection.
In Seoul, I had a chance to walk at any time of the day in various areas.
He used to return to my guesthouse at the most incomprehensible time.
I just walked around the districts, when they are in full swing with nightlife, and when everyone went to bed long ago and only restless students spend the night.
I also wandered around Seoul at night with a navigator, going in the direction of my “native” Hongdae from Gangnam (in a straight line 5 or 7 kilometers) - I walked until I got bored.
I was in the subway around midnight, when the guards “discovered” me and explained that the subway was actually closed.))
And of course, he lit up in bars and clubs in the Hongdae area, looking closely at tipsy Koreans so as not to miss unhealthy garbage and dump on time.
For those who understand - on Friday evening it is difficult to find a sober person in those places.
So, based on my personal experience, I can say:
No wonder South Korea is called one of the safest countries in the world.
Until you start looking for problems yourself, nothing will happen.
And Koreans are extremely friendly, welcoming and treat visitors very well.
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