Bad Korea move? Home for rent next to Kim embassy
A SUBURBAN family home is available to rent – next door to the embassy of secretive dictatorship North Korea.
The four-bedroom detached property, which has been empty for more than a year, costs £3,500 a month and enjoys its own garden and driveway.
Despite the rogue state not being known for cultivating good relations with its neighbours, locals say prospective renters should not be put off by the house’s unusual occupants.
Ambassador Kim Sung Gi occasionally holds parties and has been known to give Christmas gifts, but his family “keep themselves to themselves”.
The £2.7million embassy is set apart from its neighbours by a flagpole which often has North Korea’s flag flying.
A basketball hoop in the back garden is a reminder of former Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il, below, who loved the sport. An elderly couple lived in the house in Ealing, west London, for decades until reportedly moving in 2015. The owners put the house up for rent a month ago at £4,500 but have been forced to drop the price to £3,500.
On their website, estate agents renting the property describe it as “beautifully arranged” with “ample storage and off-street parking” but fail to mention the embassy.
However, one mother, who did not want to be named, said: “Inside the embassy there is a family. Sometimes they have barbecue parties that we can hear but nothing too noisy.”
Neighbour Raymond, who lives just behind the embassy, was once given a bottle of Scotch by the ambassador.
He said: “They seem like really nice people. The bottle of Scotch I got for Christmas a few years ago was unexpected but very pleasant.
“They’re nice neighbours and keep themselves to themselves. You see them sometimes coming and going in their black Mercedes.”
But the embassy is said to be “secretive”. Huge hedges hide the back garden and the five-foot gates do not open unless visitors are expected.
One delivery driver claimed embassy officials forced him to throw his parcels over the gate even though he made regular deliveries.
He said: “They never open the gates or the door, they are very
secretive.”