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It has been revealed that North Korea sold toys that copied the world-famous assembly toy LEGO.

The June issue of the monthly pictorial magazine for external propaganda, "Joseon," published by the Korean Art Publishing House on the 8th, featured an advertisement for assembly toys produced by the "Botonggang Sangmyeong Toy Factory."

An advertisement for modular toys produced by the "Botonggang Sangmyeong Toy Factory," featured in the June issue of "Joseon," a monthly pictorial magazine for external propaganda published by Joseon Hwabo.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The advertisement showed models of military supplies such as a fighter jet resembling the Cold War-era Soviet MIG-25, a biplane that has been rarely seen in the skies since the 1930s, and an armored vehicle. Models resembling rockets, launch pads, and control towers, seemingly reflecting North Korea's interest in space development, also caught the eye.

Looking at the human figure models in the advertisement, they were similar to the two-headed human figures produced by LEGO, but models like the launch pad, which contained many blocks, showed a lack of refinement.

North Korea's production of counterfeit "LEGO" has been previously reported in the media. Earlier in February, Radio Free Asia (RFA) introduced the story of a Russian who visited North Korea as a tourist.

According to the report, Ilya Voskresenskiy bought a North Korean-made toy as a souvenir for his 8-year-old son after a 3-night, 4-day tour of North Korea. The box was labeled "Manned Spacecraft Assembly Toy."

Voskresenskiy said, "My son was initially happy to receive the gift, but was disappointed the moment he opened the box," explaining that the assembly instructions were a mess and the colors of the pieces differed from the actual colors. He also lamented, "The connecting parts were so poor that my son could not assemble it by himself."

On the upper right corner of the product box, the company name "Sangmyeong" is written, and the round lettering with a red square background and black and yellow borders resembles the LEGO logo.

RFA reported that LEGO stated they did not design the product and criticized, "North Korea is unauthorizedly producing products that imitate the world-famous assembly toy 'LEGO.'"

On the occasion of the Day of the Shining Star (the birthday of National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il), characters "Jett" and "Ari" from the popular Korean animation "Super Wings" inside a balloon held by a child were seen at a performance held in downtown Pyongyang.
[Photo by Chosun Central TV]

Meanwhile, this is not the first time North Korea has unauthorizedly copied foreign product designs. In February, footage of Pyongyang city filmed to celebrate the birthday of Kim Jong-il on Korean Central TV showed balloons featuring the Korean animation character "Super Wings."

In addition, North Korea has produced products imitating South Korea's Choco Pie called "Chokolete Danseolgi," spicy chicken-flavored fried noodles similar to Buldak Bokkeum Myun, and also produced items mimicking Chanel, Burberry, and Nike.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.