Visitors to the Beijing Art Exposition pass by a booth displaying North Korean paintings run by The Paintings Say Arirang gallery that trumpets itself as China's premier seller of North Korean art, in Beijing Sept. 8, 2023.
The gallery's existence and conspicuous sales tactics, experts say, highlight China's lax enforcement of U.N. sanctions targeting North Korea to stymie Pyongyang's nuclear program. A. The U.N. has sanctioned a long list of North Korean goods, including arms, coal and art. The U.N. has also sought to block North Koreans from working overseas in the hopes of preventing North Korea from garnishing the wages of such laborers to fund its nuclear program. U.N.
An Arirang employee told The AP by phone that the studio was in operation and offered a tour of the complex. She also said the studio was selling customized portraits by its North Korean artists. The employee, a woman identifying herself as surnamed Shen, changed her story a few days later, saying the base wasn't in operation because "business is bad.
Posts on Arirang provide glimpses of the artists' lives in China. In one photo, they raise glasses of beer around sizzling barbecue. Others show them playing ping pong or visiting historic monuments and bustling market streets. For decades, North Korean art was created largely for North Korean audiences. That changed in the 1990s when Pyongyang's biggest benefactor, the Soviet Union, collapsed. North Korea desperately needed cash, so it turned to its artists.
But there are signs that North Korea's isolation is thawing. China's relations with North Korea have warmed as ties with the West have soured. Moscow is courting Pyongyang, with Kim visiting Russia in September to discuss arms sales amid the war with Ukraine."Art is becoming an important way for the outside world to understand North Korea," Jin wrote on WeChat.
A Quebec research institute says some of Canada's biggest companies have transferred billions of dollars in profits to Luxembourg to avoid paying domestic taxes.Looking at current inflation levels and other factors affecting Canada's labour market, workers in many industries may need to lower their expectations for a salary increase in 2024. In a column for CTVNews.
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