North Korea's Hidden Wildlife Trade: State Involvement Exposed

North Korea, notorious for its illicit trade in weapons and narcotics, has a new concern: the illegal trade in wildlife. A four-year study by a team of researchers in the UK and Norway, involving interviews with North Korean refugees, reveals that almost every mammal species in North Korea larger than a hedgehog is being captured for consumptive use or trade. The study found that even highly protected species are being traded, sometimes across the border to China, and that the North Korean state itself appears to profit from unsustainable and illegal wildlife exploitation.

Key Takeaways:

• Almost every mammal species in North Korea larger than a hedgehog is being captured for consumptive use or trade.
• Even highly protected species, such as the long-tailed goral, are being traded, sometimes across the border to China.
• The North Korean state itself appears to profit from unsustainable and illegal wildlife exploitation.
• North Korea has bear farms, producing bear bile for use in traditional medicine.
• State-run wildlife farms are producing otters, pheasants, deer, and bears, and their body parts, for trade.
• The state collects animal skins via a quota-based system, with residents submitting skins to a government agency.

Statistics:

• Between 600,000 and 1 million people died in North Korea's famine in the 1990s.
• The North Korean economy has suffered significantly since the famine, leading to a growing informal economy.
• The trade in wildlife products across the border into China is valued but not officially recognized by either government.
• The Korean peninsula is a globally important site for numerous mammal species, but unsustainable hunting and deforestation threaten their potential recovery in North Korea.
• The Amur leopard, one of the world's rarest big cats, is highly unlikely to naturally recolonize South Korea due to the threats it will face crossing through North Korea.

Sources:

• The Conversation -- UK --
• Joshua Elves-Powell, Associate Lecturer in Biodiversity Conservation and Ecology, UCL
• North Korea's hidden wildlife trade: new research reveals state involvement --