Office 39 - the machine suspected of making billions of dollars for North Korean leader

At an office of the South Korean National Intelligence Service in Seoul, a North Korean defector sits anxiously, worried that the information he holds could put him in danger, according toABC News.

For nearly five years, he worked for Office 39, the North Korean Workers' Party's alleged money-making arm of the country's leadership. Now, with permission from South Korea's National Security Agency, he has revealed what he knows about Office 39 in a rare interview with an Australian television channel.

"Office 39 is the organization that earns foreign currency for the leader. In North Korea, we call it the 'revolutionary fund,'" he explained. "We export anything we can, gold, gems, agricultural products. We sell everything to make money for him."

The world’s intelligence community is only just beginning to learn about Office 39 and its activities. According to experts, Office 39 is involved in both legal and illegal trade, bringing in between $500 million and $2 billion a year for North Korea. It is also accused of being involved in counterfeiting currency and drug smuggling.

As North Korea faces a series of harsh sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, Office 39 is clearly vital to leader Kim Jong-un's grip on power, writes Matthew Carney, a columnist for the Washington Post.ABC Newscomment.

Drugs, weapons and counterfeit money

Office 39 was established in the 1970s by late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung as a reserve fund.

North Korean defectorABC NewsInterviews confirmed that he only worked for the legal department of Office 39. He was an employee of Daesong, the conglomerate that controls much of the commerce in North Korea.

He was assigned to the Kumgang Trading Company, which sells ginseng, gems and gold across Asia. He would not reveal details of how the company operates, but said part of his job was to help sell gold mined and mined in North Korea’s rivers. They brought it into China and then sold it on the international market as Chinese gold.

He said it was easy for them to evade UN sanctions. “You just change the company name and open branches in other countries,” he said. “It’s very easy to operate in China. The border is thousands of kilometers long and always open. So it’s very easy to ship goods across.”

On the other hand, the US and the UN also accused Office 39 of running a network of illegal money-making activities such as counterfeiting, drug trafficking and weapons. North Korea's fake $100 bill is considered the most realistic counterfeit money in the world. This was a big source of income for Office 39 until the US government stepped in to stop it.

Office 39 is suspected of producing drugs for sale in Japan and other parts of Asia. Australian authorities intercepted a shipment of 50 kg of heroin from North Korea in 2003.

In recent years, several shipments of weapons originating from North Korea have been seized around the world. In 2013, a cargo ship carrying ammunition and missile parts was seized in Panama. The ship’s owner, Chongchongang Shipping Company, was believed to be a front company for Office 39.

North Korean defectorABC NewsThe interviewee said he had no knowledge of the above activities but admitted that "North Korea is finding it increasingly difficult to carry out illegal activities because the world has become more vigilant".

Office 39 now raises revenue from businesses inside North Korea, such as fishing, aquaculture, mining and textiles, to support the leader and his nuclear and missile programs.

Cyberspace

According to observers, in order to increase revenue, Office 39 is shifting to conducting illegal activities in cyberspace.

In 2016, US investigators suspect that North Korean hackers almost stole $1 billion from the New York Federal Reserve, but a small typo prevented the attempt.

At that time, hackers tried to steal an account of the Central Bank of Bangladesh at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. However, authorities became suspicious because they found a typo in the withdrawal request, which changed the word "foundation" to "fandation." However, the hackers still managed to get away with $81 million before being stopped.

ABC NewsNorth Korea has successfully hacked into South Korean banks and even stolen war plans from South Korean military computer networks, according to the South Korean government.

Go Myong-hyun, an expert at the Seoul-based Asia Institute for Policy Studies, said Office 39 has thousands of hackers and has poured a significant amount of resources into cyberspace.

“Cyber ​​activities are harder to detect and control, so this is clearly the perfect front for them,” Mr. Go commented.

Vu Hoang