Time magazine says that a secret fund management unit within the North Korean Workers' Party is deeply involved in the North’s alleged illegal activities.

The U.S. weekly reported in its latest edition that North Korean diplomats and officials, not criminals or gangs, are responsible for various illegal activities including the production of drugs, fake brand-name tobacco and counterfeit currency. The magazine also implicated in such activities a unit reportedly managing secret funds for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Time said that Pyongyang rakes in about one billion dollars annually from its illicit activities.