Kevin posted a condolence
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
above, even the sources Tom litsed point to a degree of uncertainty around the extent and control of the trade. Indeed, the link Tom provides to a U.S. gov't report doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the claims when they are supported by the likes of Grassley and Helms whom themselves cite press reports about the drug trade. The NPR report seems to have as its main source a storekeeper in the U.S. who claims to have been in Km's inner circle at one time. Should I apologize for being dubious? As I said above, I don't doubt that all kinds of illegal activity goes on inside the North, some of it might even go on at the behest of a gov't desperately seeking foreign currency. But to say it's uncontroversial probably says more about the diplomatic stupidity of the DPRK as it does about the strength of the evidence.
