North Korean House of Cards

National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, “At the same time as he
was posted to Italy, O Myong-kun was likely also a member of the
Secretarial Office,” Kim Jong-il’s closest executive office. He was
officially attached to North Korea’s embassy in Italy, but he took
orders from the Secretarial Office or from North Korea’s ambassador
to Switzerland at that time, Ri Chol, and not from the ambassador
in Italy.
O rented office space on the premises of a shipping company in Trieste,
and he worked hard to earn foreign currency in the cargo business
using a cargo ship registered as North Korean. At the same time, he
used the office as his base for his ‘real business.’
O Myong-kun’s assignment was to procure all of the items Kim Jong-il
needed. Based on the requests he received from the home office, he
screened and purchased all of the items needed for the events Kim
Jong-il participated in. He bought everything from the foodstuffs,
daily necessities, pets, and sports equipment for Kim Jong-il and
his family to the equipment for Kim Jong-il’s bodyguards and the
presents Kim gave to his underlings.
According to intelligence received by the NIS, O succumbed to his
chronic illnesses and has already died, but his son, O Yong-hwan,
took over as his successor.” 404
404 “Tracing the Whereabouts of Kim Jong-il’s ‘Secret Funds’ –Kim Jong-un Inherits Huge
Amount of Money Together with the Transfer of Power,” Bessatsu Takarajima, op. cit.
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
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