Entrepreneurs Set Up Labs and Appear to Be Distributing the Drug Beyond the Borders.

YANJI, China - After the North Korean coal mine where she worked stopped paying salaries, Park Kyung Ok tried her hand at business.

Buttons and zippers, candy and dried squid, fabric, plastic tarpaulins, men's suits and cigarettes.

"I sold just about everything," said Park, 44.

But it wasn't until she started hawking methamphetamine in 2007, she said, that she was able to earn a living.

Methamphetamine, known as orum, or "ice," is a rare commodity manufactured and sold in North Korea, where most factories sit idle, the equipment rusted or looted. The North Korean government once produced the drug, and others that are illicit in the West. Resourceful entrepreneurs have since set up their own small facilities, and evidence suggests that they are distributing the drug beyond the nation's borders.

[continues 1127 words]

BALTIMORE -- Participants in the historic Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity already have tried to hold Mexico responsible for the violent drug war that its government estimates has claimed at least 60,000 victims and devastated families.

Now, they want the United States to accept its share of blame.

The caravan set off in mid-August from Mexico City on a journey to 27 cities - many in border states - to raise awareness about the drug war. The caravan, sometimes including up to 500 participants in cars and buses, was scheduled to end last week in Washington, D.C.

[continues 536 words]

If law enforcement figures are any guide, Korea's illegal drug problem pales in comparison with much of the rest of the world. There were 7,011 arrests for drug offenses in 2011, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, a 7 percent drop from the previous year. The U.S., by way of comparison, in 2010 made more than 1.6 million drug arrests, more than 36 times Korea's figure, even after differences in population are accounted for.

"Korea is a relatively drug-free country," said Hwang Sung-hyun, a professor of criminology at Cyber University. "Internationally, the qualification of a drug-free country is whether there are more than 10,000 narcotics-related convicts. In the case of Korea, from 1999 to 2002, the number reached more than 10,000 for four consecutive years, but from 2003 to 2006, the number was reduced to 7,000 and in 2007, the numbers again reached more than 10,000."

[continues 1099 words]

Dear editor,

There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the problems associated with illicit heroin use. The success of the Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance pilot projects in Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands.

If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction.

[continues 91 words]

BUENOS AIRES - In January, U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Marine Corps Lieutenant General John F. Kelly to head the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). Based in Miami, Fla., USSOUTHCOM runs military operations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and is the key U.S. "drug warrior" in the region. Across the region, the key question, among civilian and military leaders alike, is whether the change in commanders will bring with it a change in focus.

The top priority for USSOUTHCOM is to fight narcotics trafficking from the Andes to the Rio Grande. With the Cold War's end, fighting communism was no longer the U.S. armed forces main objective; USSOUTHCOM increasingly concentrated on pursuing coercive anti-drug initiatives, and funds to fight the drug war were plentiful. But the change in commanders is an opportunity for the U.S. to revise, at long last, its regional doctrine in order to address other pressing security needs.

[continues 537 words]

The amount of narcotics confiscated in the first six months of the year increased 20 percent compared with the same period last year, the government said Tuesday.

A growing number of large-scale smuggling attempts contributed to the increase, it said.

According to the Korea Customs Service, a total of 26.6 kilograms of assorted drugs had been seized during the January-June period, up 24 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The amount for this year is worth around 45.2 billion won ($35 million), up 145 percent from a year ago, and was enough to be administered to 520,000 people, the office said.

[continues 65 words]

Actress Kim Bu-Seon's Calls On National TV For Marijuana Use To Be Legalized Are Causing A Public Uproar.

In a pre-recorded interview on MBC's live morning show on Friday, the 46-year-old, who has advocated the legalization of the drug, said, "Marijuana is not a narcotic; it is technically an Oriental herbal medicine which Koreans have used for 5,000 years."

Kim, who has been arrested for marijuana use several times, launched a campaign for the drug's legalization in 2004 after being sentenced to a suspended jail term. She then filed a petition with the Constitutional Court for a review of the constitutionality of the country's marijuana-related laws.

[continues 322 words]

Three American basketball players who had been fired from their South Korean teams for smoking marijuana were sentenced to suspended jail terms by a local court Monday.

The Suwon District Court sentenced Terrence Shannon and DeAngelo Collins of the Seoul SK Knights and Calvin Warner of the Anyang KT&G Kites to six months in prison with a one-year suspension for smoking the illegal drug at downtown Seoul hotel in January, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Collins, who left the team and South Korea with a knee injury, admitted to the charges, while other two pleaded not guilty. Shannon and Warner were expelled from their clubs in February.

Under South Korean law, marijuana users can be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail or fined up to 50 million won ($33,300).

[end]

Dear editor,

The U.S. drug war is a cure worse than the disease. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking.

For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed their desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify more drug war spending.

[continues 252 words]

Korea's Status As Drug-Free Country Is in Danger

It is alarming enough that Korea has been used as an intermediate base for an international drug trafficking ring involving Taliban insurgents.

Even more shocking was none of the nation's intelligence and law enforcement agencies had known it until they were given a tip by the Pakistani government.

The loose narcotic control stemming from equally lax immigration and customs checkup systems as well as the recent surge in the number of drug users in this country could deprive Seoul of its reputation as a drug-free country.

[continues 408 words]

INCHEON, South Korea - Some dogs are destined to catch Frisbees, others to sniff out the bad guys.

At least that is what South Korea customs officials believe after ordering seven cloned copies of one of the best drug-sniffing dogs ever to poke a nose in bags at the airport.

The puppies, born last fall, are clones of a Labrador retriever named Chase, judged by the customs service to be one of their top dogs.

They have been in training almost since birth and show strong signs of possessing the genes -- and noses -- necessary to combat narcotics trafficking, according to the Korea Customs Service. "The differences are so small that I really can't tell the puppies apart," trainer Kim Nak-seung said Thursday.

[continues 202 words]

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said Sunday it arrested a total of 10,649 drug offenders in 2007, up 38 percent from the previous year's 7,711.

The number of philopon users accounted for the largest with 8,521, up 42 percent from 2006; followed by marijuana smokers with 1,170, up 40 percent.

"More than 10,000 drug offenders were seized between 1999 and 2002. But the figure drastically dropped from 2003 thanks to the stiffer regulations," a prosecutor said. "But the number surged last year. It's time to take substantial measures to clamp down on use of illegal drugs."

[continues 94 words]

The government has introduced several tough measures to counter foreign English speaking teachers' drug consumption and trafficking, but they are recurring.

The absolute number of drug offenses by foreigners is a lot less than Koreans. But what worries government officials is that despite tough screening for the selection of instructors at schools, they are seeing native English speaking instructors being arrested for the use of banned drugs.

A group of foreign drug traffickers including a native English teacher at a primary school were arrested on Wednesday. Yeonsu Police Station in Incheon, 40 kilometers southwest of Seoul, said it apprehended a 21-year-old American, identified only as W, and eight other foreign nationals. Also among the arrested was a foreign English teacher who worked at a primary school.

[continues 353 words]

HONG KONG -- For American law enforcement agencies the smuggling investigations were among their most elaborate, producing dozens of arrests and hard evidence that Chinese criminal gangs had smuggled counterfeit United States currency, cigarettes and drugs made in North Korea into the United States.

The investigations, concluded 20 months ago, also produced a money trail that led to the Chinese gambling enclave of Macao, where American investigators concluded that criminals linked to North Korea were laundering their earnings.

This effort produced the hard evidence for the United States to place financial sanctions against Banco Delta Asia, a small, family-owned bank in Macao, near Hong Kong. But those sanctions became a major sticking point in international efforts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

[continues 1128 words]

Rampant abuse of narcotics is pervading all sectors of our society. What is worrisome is the fact that new narcotics, unheard of here before, are easily finding their way into the country in accordance with the growing internationalization of drug trafficking. Another terrifying fact is that they are no longer bought and sold secretly in drinking houses or on the black market among habitual users. They are openly marketed through Internet sites under the cover of being sleeping pills or health food.

[continues 441 words]

HONG KONG -- When helicopter-borne Australian commandos stormed a freighter three years ago after it was spotted unloading 110 pounds of high-grade heroin, the ship proved to be registered in Tuvalu, a tiny island nation in the South Pacific.

When a Spanish warship stopped a freighter carrying cement to Yemen four years ago, the cargo vessel turned out to be carrying 15 Scud missiles as well and was registered in Cambodia.

The two freighters had something in common: although registered elsewhere, both were owned by North Korea.

[continues 977 words]

Dear Professor Hayes: I was the victim of entrapment. I was viewing a message board about concerts in Seoul. One posting on the board said that they were interested in knowing where to purchase marijuana. I heard of a person who sold marijuana near Hongik University so I left my e-mail and said we can go together and purchase the marijuana together. When we arranged a meeting it was the police. I am facing time in jail, embarrassment, and a lot of costs. I looked up the word in an English dictionary and I think this is entrapment. Can you use this type of argument in Korea?

[continues 409 words]

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea -- Students Against Destructive Decisions at Seoul American middle and high schools will host multiple events Oct. 21-28 as part of their "Red Ribbon Week."

The group kicks off the week Oct. 21 with a 10K fun run at Collier Field. Other events are to be held daily at the two schools.

A SADD Youth Jam will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. Oct. 28 on the lawn area between the putting green and Commiskey's. The event will feature food and entertainment including youth bands, games and skateboarding.

[continues 162 words]

Incessant Efforts Needed For Effective Crackdown

We are alarmed at the news that the volume of narcotics being smuggled into this country is increasing lately.

According to the concerned authorities, the recent rise in drug smuggling derives from the fact that Korea is being used as a stopover for international narcotic trafficking. However, it may also be true that some of the smuggled drugs could find end-users among the people here, although the situation concerning illegal drug use, trafficking or manufacturing may not be as significant compared to that of other countries. But, this is no reason for complacency _ this year alone, the prosecution arrested 88 people for drug-related crimes and confiscated 3.5 kg of methamphetamine, also called philopon, and 1.77 kg of canabis.

[continues 355 words]

Dear Sean Hayes: I am an English teacher from Canada who was arrested for being in an apartment where marijuana was found. We were all hauled down to the police department and tested for marijuana. We all tested positive and I was deported by immigration and my friends are still facing criminal charges. Please inform others of the law so others won,t receive the same fate as us.

Unemployed in Vancouver.

Dear unemployed: A word to the wise to all recreational drug users in Korea: either stop what you are doing or return to your home country. The use of drugs in Korea is a serious offence and the law enforcement authorities will eventually catch you.

[continues 367 words]