Banned Imports to North Korea

It has been widely reported that the sale of “luxury goods” (奢侈品) to North Korea has been panned by the Japanese government, but I have seen only example of what “luxury goods” consists of in the English media. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has a complete list avaliable on their web site(PDF), dated November 14. See below for my rough translation of this list.

As you read this list, consider which of them is so essential and valuable that you would not be willing to trade it for a nuclear bomb.


1 Beef
Limited to frozen items

2 Tuna Fillets
Fish fillets (limited to items decided through indication by the minister of METI)

3 Caviar and substitutes
Caviar and caviar substitutes made from fish eggs

4 Alcohol
Alcoholic drinks

5 Tobacco
Manufactured tobacco and substitutes for manufactured tobacco

6 Perfume
Perfume and eau de cologne

7 Cosmetics
Thinks you put on your skin for beautification or makeup (including sunscreen, not including medicine.) Manicure and pedicure products.

8 Leather bags and clothing
Trunks, suitcases, bags for carrying around makeup, executive cases, document bags, school bags, and other containers like this. (Limited to things with a leather exterior, combination leather, or patent leather.)

Handbags (Limited to things with a leather exterior, combination leather, or patent leather.)

Wallets and other products which are always carried inside a pocket or handbag. (Limited to things with a leather exterior, combination leather, or patent leather.)

Clothing and things attached to clothing (Limited to things with a leather exterior, combination leather, or patent leather.)

9 Fur products
Overcoats and other products made of fur

10 Rugs
Rugs and other woven products

11 Crystal glass
Cups made of lead glass

12 Precious stones

13 Precious metals

14 Worked precious metals
Natural or cultured pearls, precious stones, semi precious stones, special metals (silver, gold, white gold, iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium, and ruthenium. Same for below.) and products made from these metals.

15 Portable information devices

Automatic data processing devices for portable use (at the very least, limited to devices made from central processing units, keyboards, and displays.)

16 Audio/video devices and software

Microphone stands, amplifiers, headphones and earphones, and items that combine microphones and amplifiers

Audio playback and recording devices, video recorders and playback devices, and parts and accessories.

Media for audio recording (exempting photograph and film items, including audio recording and other types.)

Video camera recorder and digital cameras

Radio broadcasters and receivers (including wireless phones and things that can receive wireless transmissions.)

Television receiving devices (limited to color ones, that have been designated by the METI Minister.) and video monitors (limited to color ones) and video projectors.

17 Cars
Automobiles

18 Motorbikes
Motorcycles (including mopeds) and motorized bicycles

19 Motorboats, yachts, etc.
Yachts and other boats for pleasure or sports, and canoes

20 Cameras and devices for film
Cameras (limited to single lens reflex cameras)

Movie cameras and projectors

Projectors, photographic enlargers, photographic compressors (exempting film use.)

Screens for projection use

21 Wristwatches, etc.
Wristwatches, watches, and other portable clocks (including stop watches)

22 Instruments
Instruments and accessories and attachments for such.

23 Fountain pens
Fountain pens

24 Art objects, collectibles, antiques
Art objects, collectibles and antiques

6 thoughts on “Banned Imports to North Korea”

  1. It’s interesting that radio recievers is on the list. Maybe it’s old news, but I seem to remember that tuneable radios — all NK radios being preset to a government station — was one thing that people used to try to smuggle into NK to provide alternative information sources.

  2. As you read this list, consider which of them is so essential and valuable that you would not be willing to trade it for a nuclear bomb.

    You miss the point entirely, sir. North Korea agreed not to develop nuclear weaponry in the 1994 framework in exchange for oil for heating and electricity and more good will than you could shake a stick at. North Korea received that, and much more in the form of food aid, and then when and did exactly as it pleases, concentrating its resources on its military. The idea that we could give the DPRK fountain pens in exchange for them not producing nuclear weapons is pretty flawed thinking.

    J. Dresner: You rightly note that radio receivers sold in DPRK are set to one station; tuneable radios are smuggled in. These regulations can’t affect the black market, so don’t conclude that a ban on radio receivers is going to stifle anyone’s freedom of information.

  3. Do you really think I was not joking? Maybe being sarcastic is the wrong approach, but my point is that there is no hope of these sanctions having any effect.

    What I find odd about this list, in fact, are the bans on various communication and media production devices. You would think that these are exactly the sorts of things that anti-DPRK governments would want to flood the country to damage the information control regime of Kim Jong Il’s government.

    Incidentally, I do not believe radios are “sold” at all in North Korea, but distributed.

  4. Ah, this was Kushibo’s problem: making sarcastic statements not perceived as such. May I recommend this small blurb from Wikipedia on formatting sarcasm in written communication.

    You would think that these are exactly the sorts of things that anti-DPRK governments would want to flood the country to damage the information control regime of Kim Jong Il’s government.

    Assuming that’s not sarcastic, see my previous comment. If the US had the choice of providing DPRK citizens with a radio that could tune to ROK stations, the White House would probably jump at the chance. But as it happens, North Koreans can’t go to their local Wal-Mart and purchase a radio, so banning radios from the regular course of trade doesn’t affect them. If it affects anyone, it’s the military forces and the people in charge — and doing anything to make their miserable lives as unpleasant as possible sounds pretty damn good to me.

  5. The line you quoted in your last comment was not meant to be sarcastic.

    I understand that the point of the sanctions is to make the lives of the elite miserable, but there have been more and more people sneaking photos and videos out of North Korea in recent years. Were those cameras smuggled in from China, or were they given to/stolen by proles by/from elites? Or perhaps there are some elites who actually have access to this sort of thing who want to get real images of their country out to the world. We have no idea, but I still think that these types of recording devices should be treated differently from say, a DVD player or cosmetics.

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