In an interview with the BBC, the former North Korea top opens up about the governance set in the old country.
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After spending 30 years climbing the elite of the North Korean regime, the intelligence chief chose to flee to South Korea in 2014. He now lives in Seoul and works for his neighbor’s intelligence services.
In a longer interview with the British broadcaster BBC he tells under the false name Kim Kuk-song about what he experienced in the horror regime in the north.
Hunting for defectors
Kuk-song tells in the interview about how defectors like himself are wanted by the regime. He himself contributed to the work when former defectors were to be liquidated.
– In North Korea, terrorism is a political tool that protects the dignity of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. It should show the successor’s loyalty to the leader, says Kuk-song.
He says he was also involved in the location of secret spies in other countries:
– By chance, a North Korean agent was working in the office of the President of South Korea. This was in the early 1990s. After working there for five or six years, he returned and worked for the Communist Party.
Kim Kuk-song claims that representatives of the regime to this day are active in a number of roles with the neighbor in the south.
–Dopsalg
In April, Kim Jong-un declared that the people of North Korea were facing a “difficult march” – a reference to the famine under his father’s rule in the 1990s.
At the time, Kim Kuk-song’s job was to raise funds for the regime – which meant drug sales.
– Dope production under Kim Jong-il reached a peak during the famine – after we ran out of money for the leader. Then I brought three foreigners to North Korea and started dope production. It was “crystal meth” – which gave us dollars to present to Kim Jong-il, he says.
Other defectors have also reported large-scale drug exports supported by the state.
BBC asks Kim Kuk-song where the money ends up:
– All the money in North Korea belongs to the leader. With the money, villas, cars, food, clothes and other luxuries are bought.
During the famine of the 1990s, it is estimated that somewhere between several hundred thousand and one million people starved to death.
–Illegal arms sales
In addition to drug sales, the regime raised money through the illegal sale of weapons to Iran during Kim Kuk’s time in the country. He also claims that the weapons could end up in countries ravaged by civil war.
Later, the UN accused North Korea of being behind arms sales to countries such as Syria, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.
In addition, they carry out frequent tests of nuclear weapons – despite the fact that they are subject to strict international sanctions for the nuclear program.
Explains the escape
After reaching a position where he claims Kim Jong-un’s aunt let him use a Mercedes, Kim Kuk-song jumped off. A decisive reason must have been the new leader’s extensive liquidations of challengers after the takeover in 2011.
Among other things, dictator Jang Song-thaek killed, his own uncle. And his whole family.
– Then I immediately felt in danger of death. I realized that I could no longer live in North Korea.
The BBC has contacted the North Korean embassy in London to get a response to the allegations from the defector, without response.
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