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FOX NewsNov 25, 2022
British American Tobacco Settles with US Over Business in North Korea
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Image copyright: Getty Images [via BBC News]
The Facts
British American Tobacco (BAT) — the maker of Lucky Strike, Dunhill, and Pall Mall cigarettes — has agreed to pay the largest penalty ever levied on a company for violating US sanctions on North Korea.
On Tuesday, the Treasury Dept. announced a $508M settlement with BAT, with the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) criminally fining the company $630M for selling tobacco products through its Singapore subsidiary to North Korean companies in China.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This unprecedented penalty is a clear warning to companies that have complied with the repressive North Korean regime, blatantly violating decades-old sanctions put in place to curb its nuclear and missile programs. BAT must pay for their wrongdoing, particularly as smuggled tobacco products represent a major source of revenue for North Korea's development of weapons of mass destruction.
Establishment-critical narrative
The West has imposed economic sanctions of increasing intensity on North Korea for three decades, prompting the regime to militarize its society and ramp up its high-profile weaponry. Instead of persisting with this failed policy, which has been counterproductive by destroying the mercantile middle class from which opposition to a regime might emerge, the focus should shift to the promotion of cultural exchange.
