British American Tobacco Settles with US Over Business in North Korea

Image copyright: Getty Images [via BBC News]

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.

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