How North Korea’s lucrative trade in human hair is helping it skirt the impact of sanctions
Justin McCurry in TokyoTue, 18 June 2024 at 7:47 am SGT6-min read
A worker at a factory in Pyongyang. North Korea has been accused of using exports of wigs made of human hair to skirt sanctions. Composite: AFP/Getty Images
They almost certainly don’t know it, but western owners of shiny new wigs and false eyelashes could owe their look to North Korean slave labour.
In recent years, a booming trade in human hair has helped to sustain North Korea’s isolated economy, softening the impact of international sanctions and providing Pyongyang with vital revenue to pursue its nuclear ambitions.
Last year, exports to China included 1,680 tonnes – or about 135 double decker buses worth – of false eyelashes, beards and wigs worth around $167m, according to Chinese customs data. Millions of dollars in sales of human hair helped drive a recovery in the secretive state’s exports in 2023, with wigs and other hair products making up almost 60% of declared goods sent to China, by far its biggest trading partner.
