Barred from exporting clothes, Pyongyang cashes in on fake hair, eyelashes

A production line manufacturing false eyelashes at a workshop in Monsheery, Pingdu, Shandong province, China, on Nov 16, 2023. - PHOTO: REUTERS

SEOUL (The Straits Times/ANN): North Korea may be known for making weapons of mass destruction, but its biggest exports are a lot more innocuous – and even flimsy.

False eyelashes and wigs now make up the lion’s share of its exports to neighbour China, which is by far North Korea’s largest trading partner.