SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korea imported US$170,000 worth of firearms from Switzerland in the first half of this year, Seoul's trade agency said Friday.
The communist country brought in about $100,000 of guns such as shotguns, air and gas rifles, and revolvers while importing around $70,000 worth of firearm components, according to the report by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, or KOTRA.
The state-run agency said the North had no record of firearm imports from Switzerland since 2009 until last year when it started to ship them in the first half.
Some experts said the new trend may be due to the fact that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spent his adolescence in the country.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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