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Isaac Stone Fish talks about his reporting for the project, North Korea’s Addicting Export: Crystal Meth, from Yanji, China.Over the past few years, the use and trade of crystal meth in China and North Korea has become much more common. Reporter Isaac Stone Fish is the Beijing correspondent for Newsweek and his project, North Korea's Addicting Export: Crystal Meth, covers the smuggling of the drug between the two countries. He talks about the project and some specifics on Yanji.

North Korea the Obscure

Isaac Stone Fish explains why he chose the subject of Crystal Meth smuggling between North Korea and China, and gives a description of the city of Yanji where he conducted his reporting.

Crystal Meth Use in North Korea

Estimates from people in North Korea on how widespread use is; crystal meth's early incarnation as a wonder drug, and the financial costs.

Addicted Now

Brief discussion of cases of addiction in North Korea and mention of an interview with North Korean expert Andrei Lankov, who had interviewed dozens of defectors recently, and the sensitivities of reporting on drugs in China and North Korea.

Isaac's articles have also appeared in The Economist, Scientific American, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Project

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Cheap, available, and an antidote to hunger, crystal meth appears to be becoming the drug of choice both in North Korea, and in its porous border region with China.
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August 8, 2011 / The New York Times
by Isaac Stone Fish
Isaac Stone Fish traveled to the North Korean border to report on the underground drug trade, and realized after returning the country possesses secrets journalists may never uncover.
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June 23, 2011 / Newsweek
by Sean Gallagher
Isaac Stone Fish examines China’s growing struggle to combat illegal drug trafficking across its border with North Korea. Photographer Sean Gallagher went to China on assignment for Newsweek to...