It took the BBC several weeks to convince North Korean Kim Kuk-song to line up for an interview. After six years, he is still afraid that the wrong person will get the interview. Finally, he chose to line up behind the fake name “Kim Kuk-song”.
“Kim” spent 30 working as an upstart in North Korea’s spy agency. Eventually, he became the Kim family’s “eyes, ears and brain,” he says BBC. In the end, he also became their executioner.
– I ordered the murder
It was in 2009 that the order came from the second highest team. Kim Jong-un’s father had been beaten and his son had partially taken over his duties. Jong-un asked him to organize a “terrorist group” and send them to kill a former government official who had fled to South Korea.
– For Kim Jong-Un, this was his opportunity to show his father what he is made of, and it became my job to order the murder of Hwang Jang-yop, Kim says.
Hwang was one of the country’s most powerful politicians and was the chief architect behind North Korea’s current political system. He fled to South Korea in 1997, and 12 years later he was assassinated by Kim’s terrorist group. Hwang survived the assassination attempt, and two North Korean people are still imprisoned, convicted of attempted murder, in Seoul.
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Kim Jong-un wanted to show strength to his father and asked Kim Kuk-song to create a “terrorist group”. Foto: Korea News Service/AP/NTB
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Kim’s eye and ears in the south
One of Kim Kuk’s most important roles was to develop and implement life strategies for dealing with the neighboring country in the south. He himself has been sent to South Korea to act as Jong-un’s eyes and ear and gather information.
– I can promise you that North Korean spies play an active role in key companies and organizations in South Korea, Kim says. He himself lives in the South Korean capital Seoul, and lives in constant fear of being killed.
Since the Korean War, at least 28,000 people have fled North Korea, but it is very rare for an intelligence officer to escape. North Koreans fleeing to the neighboring country in the south undergo a thorough interrogation and must go through a mandatory rehabilitation program. Afterwards, they are offered a help package to get back on their feet. For people like Kim Kuk-song, the process is longer and more in-depth to make sure they are not there on behalf of North Korea.
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Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Song Thaek was executed in December 2013. Here they walk together through a cemetery six months before the execution. Foto: Kyodo News / AP / NTB
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The execution of Kim Jong-un’s uncle
It was the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Song-thaek in December 2013 that was the last straw, and made Kim Kuk-song realize that he had to leave the country. Jang was arrested, charged with treason, corruption and drug trafficking. He was executed on December 12, 2013.
– I was completely terrified, and immediately got a feeling that my life was in danger. I knew I could not continue living in this country, says Kim Kuk-song.
He and his family fled the following year and still live in Seoul today.
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