JOHANNESBURG—North Korean diplomats in Africa continue to run syndicates that are perpetrating crimes, including smuggling critical minerals and trafficking wildlife and narcotics, experts have told The Epoch Times. That money in turn helps to keep North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime in power and enable it to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Despite reports and court cases that have exposed the involvement of North Korean officials in crime across Africa, most governments are doing little to stop it, with some even encouraging it, according to investigators.
In recent years, North Korean officials have been convicted of crimes including rhino poaching, and there is strong evidence of Pyongyang’s involvement in drug and weapons smuggling in Africa, but many governments on the continent “just look the other way,” said South African private investigator Chad Thomas, who has worked several cases involving North Korean officials….
North Korea’s Criminal Activities in Africa Keep the Cash Flowing to Pyongyang, Experts Say
