South Koreans fined for illegally purchasing North Korean art in Pyongyang

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South Koreans fined for illegally purchasing North Korean art in Pyongyang

Tourists fined after buying art from the sanctioned Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang, an unpublished U.N. report shows

Chad O'Carroll September 3, 2020

South Koreans fined for illegally purchasing North Korean art in Pyongyang

Clay Gilliland [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

South Korean businesspeople who purchased artwork from a sanctioned North Korean art studio were ultimately prosecuted for violating ROK law, according to an unpublished U.N. Panel of Experts (PoE) report seen by NK News.

A 96-person delegation from the World Federation of Korean Association of Commerce visited the controversial Mansudae Art Studio while touring Pyongyang in Nov. 2018. Several of them purchased artwork from the studio during their trip, despite an Aug. 2017 U.N. sanctions designation making that illegal.

About the Author

Chad O'Carroll

Chad O'Carroll is the founder of NK News/NK Pro and related holding company Korea Risk Group. In addition to being the group's CEO, O'Carroll is a frequent writer and commentator about the Koreas, having written about the two nations since 2010. He has visited the DPRK multiple times, worked and lived in Washington, D.C. with a focus on peninsula issues, and lived in the ROK since 2016.

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