N Korea ‘built crystal meth lab’

NORTH KOREA built a state-sponsored crystal meth lab and sold drugs to raise money for the government during a deadly famine in the Nineties, a highprofile defector has claimed.

During the so-called Arduous March, when up to 3.5million people died of starvation between 1994 and 1998, the regime of Kim Jong-il allegedly “ran out of revolutionary funds” and decided to build a drug production line.

“I brought three foreigners from abroad into North Korea, built a production base in the training centre of the 715 liaison office of the Workers’ Party, and produced drugs,” Kim Kuksong, a former senior colonel, told the BBC yesterday. “It was ice (crystal meth). Then we could cash it to dollars to present to Kim Jong-il.

“With that money, he’d build villas, buy cars, buy food, get clothes and enjoy luxuries.”

The extraordinary story is among a number told by Mr Kim in his first interview since defecting to South Korea in 2014. He has been living in Seoul since then and says he now works for South Korean intelligence.

He also spoke about North Korea’s use of terror to silence defectors and attack its enemies in the South. “In North Korea, terrorism is a political tool that protects the highest dignity of Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un,” he said.

He dismissed any idea that the country’s leaders do not personally sign off on such actions. “In North Korea, even when a road is built, it cannot be done without the direct approval of the supreme leader,” he said. “This kind of military work is designed and implemented by Kim Jong-un’s special orders. It’s an achievement.”

Mr Kim also said that Pyongyang had managed to infiltrate deep into key targets in Seoul. “I can tell you that North Korean operatives are playing an active role in various civil society organisations as well as important institutions in South Korea,” he said.

It was not possible to independently verify any of his claims.

It was also not clear why he had chosen to speak out now. However, the interview comes in the wake of a spike in hostilities and renewed calls for talks between North and South Korea.