The top echelon of power in the DPRK is under investigation (also Feb 11. post). Investigations of the party, cabinet, and the military, are being undertaken and overseen by the Guidance Department under the direct control of Kim Jong-il. It has the authority to investigate any organisation, and is known to have been involved in leading an investigation only twice before. In February 1984 the National Security Agency came under investigation, and its first director Kim Byung Ha committed suicide, while key officials were sent to prison camps. In 1997 several of Kim Il-sung’s close associates and thousands of high officials who followed Kim Il-sung were targeted and punished North-Korean style (Daily NK).
Also involved in inspections are the Defense Security Command of the People’s Army and the National Security Agency. They cannot, as the Guidance Department, extend into wideranging inspections as they are limited to the types of organizations and cadres they may investigate.
It has been discovered US$ 20 million at the house of the head of the National Economic Cooperation Committee (NECC) and the National Economic Cooperation Federation (NECF), Mr. Jung Un Up. He is currently under questioning, and so is staff in China and Russia. The money may have been intended as funding for the DPRKs legitimate overseas business, or could simply be accumulated bribes or otherwise “re-directed” funds (here). The amount proximates that of the registered capital of a conglomerate such as Pugang, and is a US$ 5 million short of the funds involved in the Banco Delta case (here).
Tags: Defense Security Command, DPRK, Guidance Department, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, National Economic Cooperation Committee, National Economic Cooperation Federation, National Security Agency, People's Army, Pugang
