As North Korea launched a fresh crackdown on the illicit gold trade in early February 2025, state security agents in North Pyongan province arrested several mid-level dealers working in the Sinuiju black market and opened investigations into others operating near the Unsan and Chonma county mining areas, sending a chill through connected underground markets.
“While the authorities had been vigorously policing private foreign exchange trades, they’re now shifting their attention back to gold trades. Anybody caught dealing gold faces even stricter penalties than foreign currency, leading many to say the gold trade is not for the faint of heart,” a source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
The source said that multiple mid-level gold dealers working in the Sinuiju black market were arrested by state security agents early in February. In addition, a number of gold dealers operating around leading gold mines in Unsan and Chonma county are under investigation by local state security offices.
“A mid-level dealer who was closely involved in the gold trade in Sinuiju vanished at the beginning of this month. Later, we learned from the dealer’s family that he had been brought in for questioning by the state security department,” the source said.
“And he’s not the only mid-level dealer to go missing. A series of similar disappearances have been witnessed in other areas, which has put the gold trade on ice.”
In North Korea, gold is a strategic resource, giving the state sole authority for its production, distribution and sale. The operation of gold mines and the sale of gold for hard currency are entrusted to Room 39 of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which is said to manage the Kim family’s slush fund. As such, the black market trade in gold is said to be strictly prohibited and harshly punished.
Nevertheless, an underground trade in gold survives in North Korea. Gold dealers facilitate secret transactions using bullion embezzled from the state and gold dust and ore found by individual prospectors.
High-stakes trade: from dust to kilograms
“Small fry trade at a volume of less than a hundredth of a gram (less than 0.0003 oz), while whales move kilograms (pounds) of gold at a time. Traders at the top of the market can make a killing by smuggling gold into China, so they closely monitor price fluctuations in the global market,” the source explained.
“You might ask why anybody would trade in gold when the risk of prosecution is so high. But the gold trade persists because margins are so high. The only ones who enter the trade are those who can tolerate the risks. But people are understandably intimidated by the business because you can be living large one moment only for everything to come crashing down the next,” the source added.
As law enforcement turns its attention from foreign exchange transactions to the black market in gold, not only the gold trade but other connected markets are reportedly in turmoil.
“While it’s unclear what punishment awaits the arrested individuals, these cases are sure to have a major impact on the black market that has developed around gold trading. The full ramifications remain to be seen,” the source said.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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