North Korea's military now controls a state intelligence body involved in illicit operations to generate funds through money counterfeiting and weapons exports, a report said Sunday. In a recent shake-up, the ruling communist party put a key organisation responsible for overseas espionage under the purview of the military, Yonhap news agency said.
The body has been involved in various illegal operations to earn hard currency, including drug trafficking, counterfeiting and weapons exports, it said. Seoul also holds the organisation responsible for the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner which killed all 115 people on board and prompted the United States to put Pyongyang on a list of states sponsoring terrorism.
Washington took North Korea off the list last year after the hard-line communist country agreed on steps to verify its nuclear disarmament. Military and intelligence officials here declined to comment on the report. Yonhap quoted government sources as saying the reshuffle has enabled the military to secure a major source of hard currency earnings. "The North's military has secured a source of revenue by absorbing a money spinner involved in illicit activities such as counterfeiting of money, drug trafficking and weapons exports," a source told Yonhap.
It also expressed concern that North Korea's military may step up espionage operations against South Korea because the shake-up came amid frosty inter-Korean relations. O Kuk-Ryol, vice chairman of the powerful National Defence Commission headed by leader Kim Jong-Il, now controls military espionage operations, Yonhap said.
O is a hard-line military strongman trusted by Kim, who has pushed an army-first policy prioritising the welfare of troops over civilians. Cross-border ties have worsened since a conservative government took office in Seoul in February 2008 and vowed to link major economic aid to the North's progress in nuclear disarmament.
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