North Korea military goods on sale on eBay

SEOUL, May 19 (UPI) -- North Korean military uniforms, medals and other state-sanctioned items are on sale on online auction sites like eBay.

The goods, some of them from sellers in China, also include contemporary propaganda posters and other paraphrenalia, Radio Free Asia reported.

Typing in "North Korea" yields about 8,500 search results on the U.S. auction site. According to the report, 7,000 North Korea state items were on auction in 2015, up from 5,000 in 2014.

Many of the items are from the present North Korean era of Kim Jong Un and propaganda work that idolizes Kim, music, film and posters are available online.

On a separate platform, North Korea sells the artwork of state-commissioned artists at Pyongyang's Mansudae Art Studio.

Some of the North Korea goods could be reaching the outside world as more foreign tourists visit the country and collect souvenirs.

But some of the items could be going online as part of a state-sanctioned operation in China to earn foreign currency for the regime, the report stated.

North Koreans who do business in China for state purposes have emerged as one of the top money-earning classes in the regime, South Korean news service Newsis reported.

As state officials loyal to Pyongyang, they are allowed to travel outside the country. The state has created an "incentive system," according to a source who spoke to RFA on the condition of anonymity.

The incentive system has been created as a way around tougher international sanctions against the country, the source said, and they are contributing to an emerging capitalist class.

Some of the officials are affiliated with the Reconnaissance General Bureau of Pyongyang and they operate out of the Chinese city of Dalian.

There, according to the source, the agents develop products like computer games and also raise revenue by engaging in hacking activities.

The agents are well rewarded and are able to invest in housing in Pyongyang, the source said.