It has been reported that North Korean artists’ paintings are being smuggled into China through the Hyesan City, Ryanggang Province national smuggling route.
On the 13th, a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province reported, “In the past, paintings were smuggled to China by individuals, but these days, individual smuggling is impossible, so they are being secretly mixed in with smuggled goods,” adding, “They bribe the people inspecting smuggled goods to get them over with.”
Those who inspect smuggled goods across the country also have a hard time without making bribes in this way, so they usually turn a blind eye if you give them a bribe.
According to sources, the paintings being smuggled to China through Hyesan City’s national smuggling route are those created by some artists affiliated with the Mansudae Art Studio and individual artists from Ryanggang Province. The source says that artists affiliated with the studio make money by secretly drawing and selling paintings at home.
Most paintings are made to order in China. Smugglers receive orders for paintings from Chinese dealers, commission artists to make them, and then send the paintings over.
It usually takes artists anywhere from six months to one year and six months to complete a commissioned painting. Once the artists have completed the work, smugglers take a photo of it and send it to the Chinese side to show it to them first, and then send it over after receiving a definitive answer that it is “okay.”
A source said, “In the past, if an item was sent over and the price was not right or China did not like it, it would be sent back, but these days, they send photos and get approval before sending it over.”
The price of the paintings is known to be set at around 10,000 to 100,000 yuan for works by artists from Mansudae Art Studio, and around 250 to 2,000 yuan for works by individual artists from Yanggang Province.
The explanation is that individual writers from Yanggang Province are less skilled than those who were famous writers in provincial creative studios or writers from Pyongyang creative studios, so the price difference is inevitable.
After smugglers deliver the artwork to China, they receive payment for the artwork, take a portion of that money for themselves, and pay the rest to the artists.
Since they make money by acting as middlemen while only handing over items that have been clearly approved in advance, there is a low risk of deficit and they do not require a lot of capital, so paintings are said to be one of the most popular smuggled items for smugglers.
However, it was reported that the number of people smuggling paintings in this way is very small. The source said that because it is difficult to find buyers in China who want to sell paintings, smugglers are the envy of many people.
Source: www.dailynk.com
