North Korea is a notoriously complicated country for analysts, government, military personnel and academics to understand. The subject of narcotics is no different. An official U.S. State Department report on North Korea stated that in 2010, there were “no confirmed instances of large-scale drug trafficking involving the DPRK state or its nationals were reported in 2010.” The same report, however, also stated that the Chinese government had initiated a boat patrol of the Tumen River, which runs along the Sino-Korean border, in response to narcotics smuggling. Reports in North Korean daily news publications or websites such as Good Friends North