Mick Hartley

From the Daily NK:

A professor at Hamhung University of Pharmacology was arrested in December for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine, with investigators discovering he had used students to sell the drugs, Daily NK has learned.

“The community is shocked that a Hamhung University professor was making meth and involving students in its distribution,” a source in South Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently. “While people condemn the professor’s actions, they’re also criticizing the system that led to this situation.”

The professor, a man in his 50s identified only by the surname Kim, was arrested on campus by city police inspectors in mid-December and is currently under interrogation. His involvement came to light during an investigation into a drug ring that was broken up in Wonsan in November.

As authorities suspect this case extends beyond one professor’s corruption to involve multiple faculty members and students, the Supreme Procurator’s Office has launched a university-wide inspection. Their involvement stems from Hamhung University’s status as a “central university” despite its provincial location.

It's kind of appropriate that the professor is called Kim. We've been hearing for years now, not just about the widespread use of methamphetamine in North Korea, but also its manufacture for export, to boost the coffers of the regime. The Kim Jong-un crystal meth empire is, in a way, this story writ large. It starts at the top.