Photo courtesy of Yonhap News
Chinese who visit North Korea on sightseeing or business trips are purchasing marijuana in large quantities in the Rason Special Economic Zone and selling it for a tidy profit back home where it is illegal, sources inside North Korea said.
Because marijuana cultivation is legal in North Korea, selling yeoksam, as it is called in the isolated country, has become an easy way to earn money, they said.
“People in Rason buy the large quantities of buds of yeoksam from residents and pay 30 yuan (U.S. $4.30) per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), and then sell them for 500 yuan (U.S. $72) per kilogram to Chinese people,” a source from North Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service.
“People in Rason buy the large quantities of buds of yeoksam from residents and pay 30 yuan (U.S. $4.30) per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), and then sell them for 500 yuan (U.S. $72) per kilogram to Chinese people,” a source from North Hamgyong province told RFA’s Korean Service.