Over the holiday weekend, North Korean state TV aired a new episode of the cartoon “Clever Raccoon Dog,” an educational series known to be quite popular in North Korea, according to media reports. 

The cartoon, which follows a raccoon dog, a bear and a cat, has been produced since 1987 by North Korea’s leading animation center, SEK Studio, which was sanctioned Dec. 10 by the U.S. for taking on work for foreign customers. 

Companies based abroad subcontract animation work to the government-run SEK Studio amid a seeming “desire for unreasonably low-cost labor,” the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time. The studio has used “an assortment of front companies” to evade sanctions against the North Korean government and to deceive financial institutions, according to the Treasury. 

The new episode of “Clever Raccoon Dog” came as part of a broader drive to produce new and better content for children amid a rise in demand, NK News reported this week. 

SEK Studio, which is also known as April 26 Children’s Animation Film Studio, has a long and storied history in the country’s propaganda efforts, according to a review of North Korean state media by Kharon. 

Founded in 1957 by then-leader Kim Il Sung, SEK Studio has produced hundreds of cartoons, KCNA reported in November 2014 following a visit by Kim Jong Un. Months later, Kim sent gifts, including new equipment to modernize the studio, according to another KCNA report.

In November 2020, KCNA reported about the studio’s notoriety at home and abroad, saying it had produced hundreds of pieces of cartoon films since Kim’s visit, and that the employees were devoted to animation “conducive to the intellectual and ideological education of people.” 

The studio’s employees also worked on "Empress Chung," a film created by Nelson Shin, Korean-American animator, that was the first movie released at the same time in North and South Korean movie theaters, the New York Times reported in 2005. Shin was quoted in 2007 by The Washington Times as saying he was surprised at their animation skills, and that SEK Studio was one of North Korea’s largest currency earners.

SEK Studio received help from abroad to bring in revenue, according to the Treasury.

Lu Hezheng, a senior employee and a former shareholder of the China-based Nings Cartoon Studio, worked with SEK Studio representatives to facilitate wire transfers through his firm and other Chinese front companies, the Treasury said. The front companies received millions of dollars from foreign customers, according to the Treasury.

Lu was also the sole shareholder of Shanghai Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studio before its dissolution in October 2021, according to the Treasury and corporate records. 

Four animation companies that share identifier information with the sanctioned Chinese firms changed their names this summer to reference enterprise management services, according to a review of corporate records by Kharon.

In one case, Shanghai Tianyi Enterprise Management Service Center, which has a phone number previously used by Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studio, was previously known as Shanghai Mingfan Animation Production Studio, Kharon found. Both Tianyi Enterprise Management Service Center and Hongman Cartoon and Animation Design Studio were previously owned by Sun Haijie, who is the current owner of Nings Cartoon Studio, according to Chinese corporate records.