Struggling scientists and troubled teachers, like Walter White in TV show Breaking Bad, boost their pay by making and selling the powder.
People can pick up the drug for only £11-a-gram.
Its street value is much less than it costs in Britain and the US.
An unnamed female defector, who used to sell drugs at Chongjin City in North Hamgyong province, said: “I believe many North Korean consumers were drug addicts.
“I exploited their drug dependency. I sold senior officers from the State Security Department and police officers in different regions the drug.”
Lee Kwan-Hyung, of the North Korean Human Rights in Seoul, claimed: “The consumption of methamphetamine has become common and cultural.”
He said kids as young as six are experimenting.
“Methamphetamine is the major item that cannot be missed in birthday parties among North Korean youth,” Lee added.