Korea Sogyong Trading
| Korea Sogyong Trading 조선 서경 무역 회사 |
|
|---|---|
| legal form | joint venture |
| founding | September 2001 |
| Seat |
 Pyongyang
|
| Number of employees | 200 |
| Branch | Tobacco products |
| As of October 29, 2015 | |
Korea Sogyong Trading (조선 서경 무역 회사) or Taesong-BAT is a producer of cigarettes based in North Korea . The state-owned company is a joint venture with British American Tobacco (BAT) , the partners each hold 40% and 60% of the shares . BAT invested 7.1 million US dollars . After its establishment, production started in September 2001. Until 2005, the British company's operations in Korea were not known to the public. Currently, 200 employees in Pyongyang produce 2 billion cigarettes a year.
BAT is accused of having the cigarettes produced cheaply in North Korea and of selling them exclusively for the Chinese market. The company rejects this. They would only be sold within North Korea.
Brands
The following brands are currently produced:
- Kŭmgangsan (named after Mount Kŭmgangsan )
- Craven A
- Viceroy
Individual evidence
- ^ Daniel Tudor, James Pearson: North Korea Confidential: Private Markets, Fashion Trends, Prison Camps, Dissenters and Defectors, Tuttle Publishing, p. 79 [1]
- ^ North Korean Economy Watch, Sogyong General Trading Corp. In: North Korean Economy Watch. Retrieved October 29, 2015 .
- ^ A b Ian Cobain, David Leigh: Tobacco firm has secret North Korea plant. In: the Guardian. Retrieved October 29, 2015 .