North Korean House of Cards

Image 24: The Third Floor’s office buildings in the KWP Central Committee’s #1 Office Complex.
(Source: North Korea Leadership Watch)
These Third Floor operatives were recruited from trusted families throughout
North Korea. They were trained on par with the diplomatic corps and intelligence
service. Following the training, they were dispatched to one of over twenty countries
around the world with instructions to develop networks. They spent years abroad,
occasionally returning to North Korea for special assignments. Throughout the year,
they received lists of items to be procured, primarily from Office 39, but also from
Office 38. If they were not able to procure an item, it was perceived by officials in
Pyongyang that the operatives opposed the order. This was particularly the case
with any No. 1 order, those orders to be received by the Kim family. Thus, Third
Floor operatives went to extraordinary lengths to fulfill Pyongyang’s wish list.
Once an item was procured and delivered to Pyongyang, it went to either
Office 39 or Office 38 for processing. The items that were to be given by Kim
Jong-il as gifts were transferred to his Personal Secretariat. This was presumably
through General Bureau 73, which in turn oversaw their distribution to the
wider leadership and North Korean elites. 405 Most North Korean citizens received
405 Lee Gyo-Gwan, “20,000 Receive Gifts from Kim Jong-il Every Year,” op. cit. According to
some sources, the organization responsible for delivering the special presents under the name of Kim
Jong-il was called the Kumsusan Assembly Hall Accounting Department. On the eve of national holidays,
Ken E. Gause
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