A Japanese daily says foreign cargo vessels sailing from North Korean ports have been caught smuggling fake Japanese cigarettes to South Korea and Taiwan.
The Tokyo Shimbun reported that Japan’s Maritime Security Agency had inspected vessels passing through Japan's exclusive economic zone for the past two years.

The report said inspectors found Cambodian, Taiwanese and Mongolian ships smuggling counterfeit cigarettes from the North’s Chongjin, Najin and Wonsan ports.

U.S. officials have speculated that the counterfeit cigarette trade has been one of the most profitable illegal activities of Pyongyang.