Behind the Myth: Korea’s drug history
Recent history has seen the two Koreas drastically diverge in their approach toward drugs.
Following devastating famine in the 1990s, the North Korean regime began manufacturing narcotics—first opium, then methamphetamines—in government-run factories for revenue. A 2014 Los Angeles Times article noted, “In North Korea, meth is offered as casually as a cup of tea.” According to the same Times report, North Koreans “take [meth] to treat colds or boost their energy; students take it to work late.” In 2004, North Korea “officially” began withdrawing from the drug business due to pressure from China. However, independent North Korean dealers have stepped into the vacuum left by the government and they are just as prolific.
In contrast, South Korea has taken a hard stance against drugs. Though Korean marijuana, or daema, grew wild and hemp was used to make hanboks, according to a 2012 Yonghap News article, the 1960s and 1970s saw a rise in recreational smoking. This movement was largely led by the artistic community and influenced by the presence of U.S. soldiers. However, President Park Chung-hee showed little tolerance for drug use and enacted the Cannabis Control Act in 1976, criminalizing marijuana use. Many saw this as a savvy scheme to target the artistic community, many of whom were vocal dissenters of his policies. Today, South Korea enjoys a reputation as a relatively drug free country. In comparison to 1.6 million drug arrests in the U.S. during 2011, there were just 7,011 arrests in South Korea during the same year, according to a 2012 Korea Herald article.
Despite what many think, the Koreas’ recent struggles with drugs are nothing new. The beginning of the 20th century marked a dark and often overlooked period in Korea’s history. In “The Forgotten Plague,” author John M. Jennings examines how, under Japanese colonial rule, Korea became a major opium producer. After the start of World War I, the world’s supply of opium dwindled and the price increased tremendously. Japanese pharmaceutical companies used opium to manufacture medicine and heavily relied on imports. Attempts made by both pharmaceuticals and the government to grow opium crops within Japan failed because of unsuitable soil and low incentives for farmers. This left Japan in crisis and led them to Korea’s cheap labor pool and more hospitable environment for opium cultivation. After a slow start, opium production dramatically increased. By 1941, the total opium output from Korea was 50,000 kilograms, compared to an output of 1,400 kilograms in 1930. Korea also began trading morphine with Taiwan and Japanese-controlled Manchuria.
Korea’s involvement in the drug trade took a toll on society on the peninsula. Though the government enacted the Opium Law in 1919 restricting poppy cultivation to government regulated farms, opium slipped into the hands of citizens. Koreans smoked opium before Japanese occupation, and after occupation the number of opium addicts began to fall. By the time Japanese officials banned opium smoking in Korea in 1914, morphine addiction was on the rise. Some Koreans became morphine (administered intravenously or in pills), heroine or cocaine addicts in a number of ways, including obliviously buying products touted as cure-alls. By 1924, the Japanese-language Korean newspaper, Toa Nippo reported, “There are 4,000 morphine addicts in Seoul alone, creating ‘enormous havoc.’ “ Japan instituted a number of drug policies, including a narcotics addict registry and drug treatment rehabilitation programs, to combat the rise in crime and shrinking labor pool due to addiction. In 1939, government officials announced that drug addiction was nearly eliminated in Korea.
As the number of Korean addicts decreased, the government was left with a heroin and morphine surplus and paused production in 1935. By the end of World War II, Korea was a solid narcotics exporter, with “over 90 percent of the total production from 1935 to 1945” being sent abroad.