North Korea Re-exported Cigarettes to Generate Currency, FT Says

North Korea has been generating foreign exchange by re-exporting cigarettes manufactured by British American Tobacco Plc, the Financial Times reported, citing documents that it had seen.

BAT sold the cigarettes, made and packaged in Singapore for the North Korean market, to a Singaporean distributor for shipment to Nampo, a port near Pyongyang, the FT said. At least 15,000 cases, worth $6.3 million, were re-exported out of Nampo to ports in Vietnam and the Philippines to go to markets where they commanded a higher price, the FT said.

BAT said it halted exports to North Korea after discovering a diverted cargo in August, the FT reported.