Foreign Currency Scams

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Here’s more on why Ukraine decided to scrap its visa exemption agreement with North Korea: a report suggests North Koreans were illegally earning foreign currency in the country posing as oriental medicine doctors and selling counterfeit drugs.

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A North Korean man undergoes interrogation with a troubled look on his face. He is an official of a North Korean medical team that was set up to earn foreign currency in Ukraine. The team reportedly posed as doctors of oriental medicine and sold fake drugs.

[Soundbite] Ethnic Korean in Ukraine(Voice altered) : "I received acupuncture treatment several time because of back pain, but it didn't work. I also received massage therapy, but its effects were dubious. As nothing worked, I received treatment at a local hospital."

Documents seized from the medical team and entitled "Overseas Medical Workers' Plan to Earn Foreign Currency" list the names of foundation workers and their earnings. It mandates that the workers must pay 400 dollars a month during the first three years, and 500 dollars a month thereafter. Based on these numbers, the North Korean medical team consisting of nine workers is presumed to have been making around 47,000 dollars annually. The Ukrainian government expelled some 20 North Koreans last October for illegal business practices. Back in 2012 two North Koreans were caught by Ukrainian national security officials for attempting to steal highly classified rocket technologies. They are currently serving eight-year prison sentences.