North Korean art sells in China despite UN sanctions over nuclear program

By DAKE KANG
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — A Beijing-based art dealer touts itself as China’s premier seller of North Korean art, despite stiff U.N. sanctions prohibiting the sale of such goods. The gallery’s existence and conspicuous sales tactics highlight China’s lax enforcement of U.N. sanctions targeting North Korea to stymie Pyongyang’s nuclear program. At a recent Beijing art exposition, dozens of North Korean paintings were on sale, some going for thousands of dollars. Though North Korea’s once-thriving art trade was hit badly by the sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, there are signs that the country’s isolation is now thawing.