WEBVTT FILE 1 00:00:00.531 --> 00:00:02.948 (soft music) 2 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:03.820 --> 00:00:05.760 - North Korea is like "Game of Thrones" 4 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:07.193 but without the dragons. 5 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:13.000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 6 00:00:08.620 --> 00:00:11.470 It's an aristocratic society, and it's capitalist. 7 00:00:11.470 --> 00:00:13.340 And everything is geared to make sure 8 00:00:13.340 --> 00:00:16.673 that there's as much cash for Kim as is possible. 9 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:25.226 (Koh speaking Korean) 10 00:00:29.200 --> 00:00:32.860 Bureau 39 is involved in everything that makes money 11 00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:36.010 for North Korea: selling arms, smuggling of drugs, 12 00:00:36.010 --> 00:00:38.770 counterfeiting of U.S. bills. 13 00:00:38.770 --> 00:00:41.420 This is about hundreds of millions of dollars a year. 14 00:00:43.157 --> 00:00:46.407 (Park speaking Korean) 15 00:00:52.615 --> 00:00:55.615 (suspenseful music) 16 00:01:08.722 --> 00:01:11.140 (soft music) 17 00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:14.493 - [Narrator] North Korea, the pariah state. 18 00:01:17.550 --> 00:01:20.593 A dictatorship shrouded in mystery. 19 00:01:25.570 --> 00:01:27.880 Every day, the official newspapers 20 00:01:27.880 --> 00:01:30.973 praise the heroic deeds of the Dear Leader. 21 00:01:35.330 --> 00:01:38.143 Time seems to stand still here. 22 00:01:43.400 --> 00:01:46.853 North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world. 23 00:01:49.610 --> 00:01:51.080 For three generations, 24 00:01:51.080 --> 00:01:55.913 the Kim family has ruled the country with an iron fist. 25 00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:03.480 But how does the regime manage to survive 26 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.280 despite severe UN sanctions? 27 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:10.810 And how come Kim Jong-un has enough money to threaten 28 00:02:10.810 --> 00:02:15.810 the world with the most powerful weapon of all time: 29 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:17.603 the nuclear bomb. 30 00:02:18.476 --> 00:02:21.893 (rocket engines roaring) 31 00:02:29.850 --> 00:02:32.267 (soft music) 32 00:02:37.850 --> 00:02:39.380 Far from North Korea, 33 00:02:39.380 --> 00:02:41.050 a history professor is working 34 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:43.223 on answers to these questions. 35 00:02:44.248 --> 00:02:46.600 Remco Breuker from the University of Leiden 36 00:02:46.600 --> 00:02:48.800 in the Netherlands has been studying 37 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:52.393 the enigmatic country and its rulers for years. 38 00:02:53.660 --> 00:02:56.913 He says our image of North Korea is wrong. 39 00:02:58.050 --> 00:03:00.670 - North Korea isn't what it tells us it is. 40 00:03:00.670 --> 00:03:03.720 Just look how the country functions at the highest level. 41 00:03:03.720 --> 00:03:07.400 What is the main goal of the government, 42 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:09.240 of the regime, I should say? 43 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:11.540 It's to make money. It's to make cash for Kim. 44 00:03:13.690 --> 00:03:15.190 What intrigues me personally 45 00:03:15.190 --> 00:03:17.893 is how North Korea manages to make money. 46 00:03:20.160 --> 00:03:22.420 One of the questions we were stuck with 47 00:03:22.420 --> 00:03:24.140 is where does the money go? 48 00:03:24.140 --> 00:03:26.193 How much money does North Korea make? 49 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:28.620 - [Narrator] For North Korea's leadership, 50 00:03:28.620 --> 00:03:31.630 questions like these are dangerous. 51 00:03:31.630 --> 00:03:34.600 - The North Korean regime sent a letter of indictment 52 00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:36.880 under my name to the Dutch government, 53 00:03:36.880 --> 00:03:38.970 charging me with three capital crimes. 54 00:03:38.970 --> 00:03:43.770 The worst of the three was the accusation that our research, 55 00:03:43.770 --> 00:03:46.070 my research because it was in my name, 56 00:03:46.070 --> 00:03:48.550 damaged the supreme dignity of the supreme leader. 57 00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:52.280 This sounds like it's a funny crime, right? 58 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.510 Damaging the supreme dignity of somebody. 59 00:03:54.510 --> 00:03:56.710 In North Korea it carries the death penalty. 60 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:00.090 - [Narrator] A serious threat. 61 00:04:00.090 --> 00:04:02.420 Remco Breuker's investigations threaten 62 00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:05.410 to disrupt North Korea's cash flow. 63 00:04:05.410 --> 00:04:07.830 The country is internationally isolated 64 00:04:07.830 --> 00:04:10.050 because of its nuclear program. 65 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:12.740 Without legal sources of income, 66 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:16.003 the regime has taken to raising money illegally. 67 00:04:19.460 --> 00:04:23.010 New York, the seat of the United Nations. 68 00:04:23.010 --> 00:04:26.910 Since 2006, the UN has imposed nine rounds 69 00:04:26.910 --> 00:04:29.310 of sanctions against North Korea. 70 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:30.550 These measures are monitored 71 00:04:30.550 --> 00:04:33.600 by an international panel of experts. 72 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.050 The panel consists of eight members, 73 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:40.573 including ex-intelligence, military and financial experts. 74 00:04:41.460 --> 00:04:44.580 For their own safety, they work in secret. 75 00:04:44.580 --> 00:04:47.120 Only the coordinator, Hugh Griffiths, 76 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:48.803 is willing to speak on camera. 77 00:04:49.760 --> 00:04:52.360 - The sanctions have a tremendous impact 78 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:54.530 on one level on North Korea. 79 00:04:54.530 --> 00:04:57.550 It means that their economy can't flourish 80 00:04:57.550 --> 00:04:59.600 in the way it would if they were able 81 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.070 to sell their largest 82 00:05:02.070 --> 00:05:05.700 foreign currency-earning commodities legitimately. 83 00:05:05.700 --> 00:05:09.430 So, they can't ship coal legitimately, 84 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:12.890 they can't ship iron ore legitimately, 85 00:05:12.890 --> 00:05:15.533 they can't ship zinc legitimately. 86 00:05:16.710 --> 00:05:20.320 Foreign currency is very important to any country, 87 00:05:20.320 --> 00:05:23.070 no matter how autarkic its economy. 88 00:05:23.070 --> 00:05:26.430 You need foreign currency to buy the goods 89 00:05:26.430 --> 00:05:29.180 that are essential for your population 90 00:05:29.180 --> 00:05:30.750 or for your elite group. 91 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:33.580 So foreign currency is pretty essential 92 00:05:33.580 --> 00:05:35.610 to North Korea's survival. 93 00:05:35.610 --> 00:05:37.660 The question is, what's more important 94 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:40.490 to the North Korean leadership: 95 00:05:40.490 --> 00:05:44.830 developing nuclear and ballistic missile program 96 00:05:44.830 --> 00:05:47.774 or seeing their economy flourish? 97 00:05:47.774 --> 00:05:50.570 (soft music) 98 00:05:50.570 --> 00:05:53.193 - [Narrator] The regime decided to go for the bomb. 99 00:05:54.490 --> 00:05:59.490 In 2005, it officially announced that it had nuclear weapons 100 00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:02.030 as a protection against attacks 101 00:06:02.030 --> 00:06:06.893 from the outside and to strengthen its power on the inside. 102 00:06:09.960 --> 00:06:13.123 Pyongyang, the city of the chosen. 103 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:19.273 Brand new apartment blocks line spotlessly clean avenues. 104 00:06:21.260 --> 00:06:24.263 Here is where Pyongyang's upper class resides. 105 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:28.883 Only those who are considered loyal to the regime live here. 106 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:32.200 Those who want to enter the capital 107 00:06:32.200 --> 00:06:35.017 from the outside need a permit. 108 00:06:38.983 --> 00:06:40.030 Seong Kyun-chul 109 00:06:40.030 --> 00:06:43.380 from Pyongyang's Economic Research Institute. 110 00:06:43.380 --> 00:06:45.840 He is authorized to talk to journalists, 111 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:48.519 for example, about the sanctions. 112 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:51.852 (Seong speaking Korean) 113 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:23.970 - The sanctions that have been put 114 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:26.050 on North Korea are extremely strict. 115 00:07:26.050 --> 00:07:27.770 I mean, there's probably not been a country 116 00:07:27.770 --> 00:07:32.170 that has been sanctioned more diversely, more strictly. 117 00:07:32.170 --> 00:07:34.493 At the same time, they're no longer working. 118 00:07:36.640 --> 00:07:39.080 There is a huge problem with our North Korea policy 119 00:07:39.080 --> 00:07:41.640 and using sanctions to try 120 00:07:41.640 --> 00:07:44.313 and have the regime modify its behavior, 121 00:07:46.450 --> 00:07:49.460 because we're not sanctioning the one entity 122 00:07:49.460 --> 00:07:51.390 that earns most of this money, 123 00:07:51.390 --> 00:07:54.183 that keeps it afloat financially, that keeps it alive. 124 00:07:58.580 --> 00:08:01.700 - [Narrator] Many high-ranking defectors from North Korea 125 00:08:01.700 --> 00:08:03.930 talk about a secret government department 126 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:07.810 that's said to administer the regime's secret funds. 127 00:08:07.810 --> 00:08:11.980 Allegedly, Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il 128 00:08:11.980 --> 00:08:14.390 set it up in the late 1970s 129 00:08:14.390 --> 00:08:17.480 and equipped it with wide ranging powers. 130 00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:22.110 Its tasks: securing an independent power base for the Kims, 131 00:08:22.110 --> 00:08:24.330 and raising money for the nuclear bomb 132 00:08:24.330 --> 00:08:26.620 and the leaders' personal luxury. 133 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:29.363 Its name: Bureau 39. 134 00:08:33.430 --> 00:08:38.430 Only 200 kilometers to the southeast: Seoul. 135 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:41.580 South Korea's hypermodern capital. 136 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:45.023 One of the 10 most expensive cities in the world. 137 00:08:46.170 --> 00:08:50.510 Around 25 million people live in the metropolitan area, 138 00:08:50.510 --> 00:08:53.720 about half the population of South Korea. 139 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:57.610 Among them, most of the 30,000 people 140 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:00.413 who managed to flee from North Korea. 141 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:06.633 Koh Young-hwan was a North Korean diplomat. 142 00:09:07.530 --> 00:09:10.570 He escaped in 1991. 143 00:09:10.570 --> 00:09:12.800 Later, he was deputy director 144 00:09:12.800 --> 00:09:16.813 of South Korea's Institute for National Security Strategy. 145 00:09:20.020 --> 00:09:21.370 Few people know more 146 00:09:21.370 --> 00:09:24.813 about the Kim regime's workings than he does. 147 00:09:26.831 --> 00:09:29.998 (Koh speaking Korean) 148 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.300 - Talk to any prominent North Korean exile 149 00:10:04.300 --> 00:10:06.400 and they'll all tell you that Bureau 39 150 00:10:06.400 --> 00:10:09.650 is absolutely crucial in earning revenues 151 00:10:09.650 --> 00:10:10.800 for the North Korean regime. 152 00:10:10.800 --> 00:10:13.020 It's absolutely vital. 153 00:10:13.020 --> 00:10:15.548 Take it away, everything collapses. 154 00:10:15.548 --> 00:10:17.965 (soft music) 155 00:10:20.310 --> 00:10:23.520 - [Narrator] Here in New York, the United Nations impose 156 00:10:23.520 --> 00:10:26.373 and monitor the sanctions against North Korea. 157 00:10:27.260 --> 00:10:30.550 An entity as important as Bureau 39 158 00:10:30.550 --> 00:10:33.973 should be heading the list of banned organizations. 159 00:10:36.090 --> 00:10:38.820 - Office 39 is normally talked about 160 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:41.580 by North Korean defectors. 161 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:45.380 We don't really see Office 39 in our investigations. 162 00:10:45.380 --> 00:10:48.940 Instead, we're looking at the North Korean banks 163 00:10:48.940 --> 00:10:53.570 and the shell companies that traditionally operate overseas 164 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:56.790 in third countries to generate foreign currency. 165 00:10:56.790 --> 00:10:59.923 And then that money is sent back to North Korea. 166 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:05.400 - Bureau 39 outside of North Korea is not called Bureau 39. 167 00:11:05.400 --> 00:11:09.300 Nobody identifies as somebody who works for Bureau 39. 168 00:11:09.300 --> 00:11:11.770 So, it's very difficult to slap sanctions on people 169 00:11:11.770 --> 00:11:14.117 you don't really know are active. 170 00:11:15.220 --> 00:11:16.870 - [Narrator] Kinshasa, the capital 171 00:11:16.870 --> 00:11:19.610 of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 172 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:21.270 Since the 1980s, 173 00:11:21.270 --> 00:11:24.350 North Korea has been procuring foreign currency here, 174 00:11:24.350 --> 00:11:26.520 in the heart of Africa. 175 00:11:26.520 --> 00:11:28.320 Koh Young-hwan witnessed 176 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.523 a particularly spectacular case at the time. 177 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:35.867 (Koh speaking Korean) 178 00:12:28.970 --> 00:12:32.560 Bureau 39 never acts openly. 179 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:36.154 But its fundraising activities span the globe. 180 00:12:36.154 --> 00:12:38.571 (soft music) 181 00:12:44.526 --> 00:12:48.359 Angkor Wat in Cambodia, a World Heritage site. 182 00:12:51.140 --> 00:12:53.590 Over 2.5 million people visit 183 00:12:53.590 --> 00:12:56.043 the old Khmer temples every year. 184 00:12:58.910 --> 00:13:03.910 Selfies for the tourists, foreign exchange for Cambodia. 185 00:13:04.660 --> 00:13:06.627 Angkor Wat's operating company 186 00:13:06.627 --> 00:13:11.110 earned more than $100 million in 2018. 187 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:15.520 Tourism is by far the largest industry here. 188 00:13:15.520 --> 00:13:20.303 A lucrative business, also for North Korea. 189 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:28.370 Right next to the entrance to the temples: 190 00:13:28.370 --> 00:13:31.640 a museum that opened in 2015. 191 00:13:31.640 --> 00:13:35.320 At its heart is a 3D painting that depicts the history 192 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.350 of the Khmer Empire in monumental images. 193 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:43.310 Throngs of tourists are guided through here every day. 194 00:13:43.310 --> 00:13:47.046 - So for the painter, they're from North Korea. 195 00:13:47.046 --> 00:13:49.230 We had 63 painter. 196 00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:52.133 They took one year and four months to paint it. 197 00:13:56.070 --> 00:13:57.369 - [Reporter] And who constructed it? 198 00:13:57.369 --> 00:13:59.872 Was it Cambodian or North Korean as well? 199 00:13:59.872 --> 00:14:01.115 - The North Korean as well. 200 00:14:01.115 --> 00:14:03.640 The North Korean construct the museum. 201 00:14:03.640 --> 00:14:05.770 - [Narrator] Circumventing UN sanctions, 202 00:14:05.770 --> 00:14:10.770 North Korea not only built the complex but also financed it. 203 00:14:10.920 --> 00:14:14.500 In return, the North Koreans collect all the revenues 204 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:16.260 for the first ten years. 205 00:14:16.260 --> 00:14:18.833 After that, they'll share the profits. 206 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:22.370 The North Korean CEO doesn't want to appear 207 00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:23.810 in front of the camera. 208 00:14:23.810 --> 00:14:25.450 But he says the museum makes 209 00:14:25.450 --> 00:14:30.030 about $7 million a year in entrance fees alone. 210 00:14:30.030 --> 00:14:32.783 Soon, this figure is supposed to double. 211 00:14:38.290 --> 00:14:39.750 Cambodia and North Korea 212 00:14:39.750 --> 00:14:43.030 have maintained close relations for decades. 213 00:14:43.030 --> 00:14:46.470 Kim Il-sung and Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk 214 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:48.260 were good friends. 215 00:14:48.260 --> 00:14:51.600 A solid basis for today's business ties 216 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.033 that contravene UN sanctions. 217 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:01.410 In the evening, when the museum closes, 218 00:15:01.410 --> 00:15:02.920 the North Koreans throw 219 00:15:02.920 --> 00:15:06.500 another set of doors open for the hungry tourists. 220 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:08.800 They don't want cameras in the restaurant, 221 00:15:08.800 --> 00:15:10.875 so we film in secret. 222 00:15:10.875 --> 00:15:12.390 - [Waitress] Reservation? 223 00:15:12.390 --> 00:15:15.000 - [Reporter] Yeah, we had a reservation yesterday. 224 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.534 What name did you have? 225 00:15:17.534 --> 00:15:19.970 (chatter) 226 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:22.903 - [Narrator] The tables are almost always fully booked. 227 00:15:24.910 --> 00:15:27.266 - [Reporter] Can we also sit near the stage? 228 00:15:27.266 --> 00:15:29.417 - [Waitress] Only reservation. 229 00:15:29.417 --> 00:15:31.373 - [Reporter] Oh, okay then we sit here. 230 00:15:32.747 --> 00:15:34.914 (chatter) 231 00:15:37.810 --> 00:15:40.730 - [Narrator] The menu boasts North Korean specialties 232 00:15:40.730 --> 00:15:43.433 such as cold noodles and sea cucumber. 233 00:15:44.370 --> 00:15:48.160 The prices are surprisingly high by Cambodian standards. 234 00:15:48.160 --> 00:15:51.053 A main course costs up to $50. 235 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.380 In particular, tourists from China 236 00:15:54.380 --> 00:15:57.010 and South Korea visit the restaurant. 237 00:15:57.010 --> 00:15:58.930 The young women who serve here 238 00:15:58.930 --> 00:16:01.513 are mostly art students from Pyongyang. 239 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:05.690 They live and sleep above the restaurant 240 00:16:05.690 --> 00:16:09.593 and are often not allowed to leave the premises for years. 241 00:16:12.090 --> 00:16:13.960 Every evening at the same time, 242 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:18.063 they change their costumes and get ready for the big show. 243 00:16:20.869 --> 00:16:23.869 (singing in Korean) 244 00:16:31.359 --> 00:16:33.942 (upbeat music) 245 00:16:39.346 --> 00:16:42.146 (people cheering) 246 00:16:42.146 --> 00:16:47.146 There are 130 such North Korean restaurants worldwide, 247 00:16:47.170 --> 00:16:48.933 three of them in Cambodia. 248 00:16:49.800 --> 00:16:53.040 They're said to make several million dollars a year, 249 00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:56.253 but the waitresses don't get paid for their work. 250 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:01.073 The dollars flow directly into the regime's secret coffers. 251 00:17:02.861 --> 00:17:05.028 (chatter) 252 00:17:09.244 --> 00:17:11.240 (soft music) 253 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.120 No other country exploits its population 254 00:17:14.120 --> 00:17:16.493 as systematically as North Korea. 255 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.600 North Korean workers are deployed worldwide. 256 00:17:21.600 --> 00:17:24.893 Even in the European Union: in Poland. 257 00:17:27.270 --> 00:17:30.360 Here, we encounter North Korean work brigades 258 00:17:30.360 --> 00:17:32.280 on a building site. 259 00:17:32.280 --> 00:17:34.210 They've been promised good wages 260 00:17:34.210 --> 00:17:36.800 and decent working conditions, 261 00:17:36.800 --> 00:17:39.943 only to be treated like slaves. 262 00:17:43.090 --> 00:17:45.720 In the evening, after a 12-hour shift, 263 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:47.943 the workers are driven to their barracks. 264 00:18:02.120 --> 00:18:03.640 They're monitored around the clock 265 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.923 by North Korean state security. 266 00:18:17.580 --> 00:18:20.563 Still, one of them decides to talk. 267 00:18:23.864 --> 00:18:27.087 (reporter speaking Korean) 268 00:18:27.087 --> 00:18:30.504 (worker speaking Korean) 269 00:18:31.407 --> 00:18:33.996 (reporter speaking Korean) 270 00:18:33.996 --> 00:18:37.413 (worker speaking Korean) 271 00:18:50.156 --> 00:18:52.714 (reporter speaking Korean) 272 00:18:52.714 --> 00:18:56.131 (worker speaking Korean) 273 00:19:44.027 --> 00:19:46.550 Modern slavery: North Korea sends 274 00:19:46.550 --> 00:19:50.620 well-trained workers to Poland to toil in shipyards 275 00:19:50.620 --> 00:19:53.030 and on construction sites. 276 00:19:53.030 --> 00:19:57.660 The workers' families are held hostage in North Korea. 277 00:19:57.660 --> 00:19:58.900 If the worker flees, 278 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:01.863 the family at home is often severely punished. 279 00:20:03.100 --> 00:20:06.710 The workers only earn about 90 euros per month, 280 00:20:06.710 --> 00:20:09.300 the rest goes to the regime. 281 00:20:09.300 --> 00:20:10.853 Cash for Kim. 282 00:20:12.800 --> 00:20:15.490 Largely unnoticed by the international community, 283 00:20:15.490 --> 00:20:18.480 North Korea has sent laborers all over the world, 284 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:21.440 up to 150,000 in all. 285 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.070 About 40,000 of them are in Russia 286 00:20:24.070 --> 00:20:26.623 and up to 100,000 in China. 287 00:20:27.610 --> 00:20:31.690 North Koreans also work in Kuwait, Malaysia, 288 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:36.130 Cambodia, Mongolia, Oman, Qatar, 289 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:40.970 the United Arab Emirates and in African countries. 290 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:42.340 Under UN sanctions, 291 00:20:42.340 --> 00:20:45.520 these workers need to go back to North Korea. 292 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:48.250 But the practice still continues. 293 00:20:48.250 --> 00:20:50.610 Experts estimate that the regime 294 00:20:50.610 --> 00:20:53.797 makes up to $1 billion a year this way. 295 00:20:55.426 --> 00:20:58.593 (Koh speaking Korean) 296 00:21:07.570 --> 00:21:10.090 Defectors say that Bureau 39 297 00:21:10.090 --> 00:21:12.793 is directly controlled by Kim Jong-un. 298 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:16.620 It manages the leadership's secret accounts, 299 00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:18.943 the so-called palace economy. 300 00:21:20.070 --> 00:21:24.193 But where in Pyongyang is Bureau 39 located? 301 00:21:25.060 --> 00:21:28.743 And how many millions flow into its coffers? 302 00:21:29.963 --> 00:21:34.963 (bell ringing) (soft music) 303 00:21:38.630 --> 00:21:40.490 When we ask the North Korean official, 304 00:21:40.490 --> 00:21:43.880 he and his translator pretend not to know. 305 00:21:44.830 --> 00:21:48.580 (translator speaking Korean) 306 00:21:55.081 --> 00:21:58.414 (Seong speaking Korean) 307 00:22:01.320 --> 00:22:06.320 Bureau 39 is one of the best-kept secrets of the Kim regime. 308 00:22:06.550 --> 00:22:10.273 Only North Koreans who've escaped can talk about it openly. 309 00:22:11.304 --> 00:22:13.721 (soft music) 310 00:22:19.770 --> 00:22:20.920 Seoul. 311 00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:22.180 At a secret location, 312 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:25.660 we meet a man who used to work for Bureau 39. 313 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:27.940 He was based in China. 314 00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:31.053 His task: smuggling foreign currency. 315 00:22:32.670 --> 00:22:33.983 Then he escaped. 316 00:22:35.040 --> 00:22:38.060 His position was so important that today, 317 00:22:38.060 --> 00:22:41.550 the North Korean regime threatens to kill him. 318 00:22:41.550 --> 00:22:45.430 This is why he had plastic surgery to alter his face. 319 00:22:45.430 --> 00:22:49.013 Even so, he only wants to be filmed from behind. 320 00:22:49.989 --> 00:22:53.156 (Lee speaking Korean) 321 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:29.780 To understand Bureau 39 322 00:23:29.780 --> 00:23:33.110 and the capitalist structures of North Korea, 323 00:23:33.110 --> 00:23:36.400 it's important to understand its history. 324 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:40.050 In 1991 the Soviet Union breaks up. 325 00:23:40.050 --> 00:23:41.530 North Korea loses one 326 00:23:41.530 --> 00:23:44.023 of its most important trading partners. 327 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:47.480 While many former socialist states 328 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:50.060 now rely on market economics, 329 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:54.090 the Kims continue to isolate themselves. 330 00:23:54.090 --> 00:23:56.070 When Kim Jong-il takes over 331 00:23:56.070 --> 00:24:00.853 from his late father in 1994, a famine breaks out. 332 00:24:04.190 --> 00:24:06.790 - During the great famine in the mid-90s, 333 00:24:06.790 --> 00:24:08.740 many North Koreans starved to death. 334 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:11.950 The public distribution system collapsed. 335 00:24:11.950 --> 00:24:14.130 Witnesses described seeing mountains 336 00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:16.110 of dead bodies in the streets. 337 00:24:16.110 --> 00:24:19.473 Anywhere between one to three million North Koreans died. 338 00:24:20.650 --> 00:24:23.360 So, what happened is that North Koreans now knew 339 00:24:23.360 --> 00:24:24.770 that if they wanted to survive, 340 00:24:24.770 --> 00:24:28.193 they could no longer trust or rely on the state. 341 00:24:29.780 --> 00:24:31.810 - [Narrator] From then on, the rural population 342 00:24:31.810 --> 00:24:35.100 in particular had to be self-sufficient. 343 00:24:35.100 --> 00:24:39.070 Black markets started to emerge all over North Korea. 344 00:24:39.070 --> 00:24:41.690 They're called Jangmadang. 345 00:24:41.690 --> 00:24:44.000 All sorts of currencies are accepted, 346 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:47.920 especially American dollars and Chinese yuan. 347 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:49.130 Today, there are countless 348 00:24:49.130 --> 00:24:51.570 of these markets throughout the country. 349 00:24:51.570 --> 00:24:54.700 400 of them are even officially licensed 350 00:24:54.700 --> 00:24:57.820 and provide tax income for the regime. 351 00:24:57.820 --> 00:25:01.593 Mainly food and goods from China are bartered and sold here. 352 00:25:02.670 --> 00:25:05.837 (Lee speaking Korean) 353 00:25:29.310 --> 00:25:32.720 - So, the regime tried to control the markets 354 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:33.860 but it knows it can't, 355 00:25:33.860 --> 00:25:35.600 because if it shuts down the markets 356 00:25:35.600 --> 00:25:39.420 without having in place another public distribution system, 357 00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:41.280 people die of hunger. 358 00:25:41.280 --> 00:25:44.030 And North Koreans are not going to let that happen again. 359 00:25:44.030 --> 00:25:45.730 They know what happened last time. 360 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:51.700 And that's how North Korea really changed 361 00:25:51.700 --> 00:25:55.860 from a socialist country with an economy in ruins 362 00:25:55.860 --> 00:26:00.080 to a capitalist country with a hybrid economy 363 00:26:00.080 --> 00:26:03.323 that looks socialist but really is capitalist. 364 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.230 - [Narrator] The biggest profiteers 365 00:26:09.230 --> 00:26:13.880 from these black markets are Pyongyang officials. 366 00:26:13.880 --> 00:26:16.000 Because of their loyalty, 367 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:19.430 but mainly out of financial self-interest, 368 00:26:19.430 --> 00:26:22.250 the regime allows them to trade. 369 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:24.680 Over the years, they've become rich. 370 00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:28.590 They sell luxury goods, smuggle raw materials 371 00:26:28.590 --> 00:26:30.980 and invest in real estate. 372 00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:34.960 They're called Donju, Money Lords. 373 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.200 They enjoy the luxury and the freedom 374 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.210 that the regime grants them. 375 00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:41.993 But their loyalty comes at a price. 376 00:26:47.310 --> 00:26:50.810 Many Donju hold senior government positions, 377 00:26:50.810 --> 00:26:53.553 including at Bureau 39. 378 00:26:53.553 --> 00:26:55.970 (soft music) 379 00:26:59.050 --> 00:27:03.690 Like this man who's been hiding in Seoul since he escaped. 380 00:27:03.690 --> 00:27:05.170 Born in the 90s, 381 00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:07.060 he experienced how North Korea 382 00:27:07.060 --> 00:27:10.310 developed increasingly capitalist structures. 383 00:27:10.310 --> 00:27:14.450 Before his escape, he was responsible for exports, 384 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:17.930 Bureau 39's most lucrative business. 385 00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:20.020 Fearing the regime's revenge, 386 00:27:20.020 --> 00:27:22.836 he too doesn't want to be recognized. 387 00:27:22.836 --> 00:27:26.086 (Park speaking Korean) 388 00:28:04.836 --> 00:28:06.850 In that respect at least, 389 00:28:06.850 --> 00:28:09.580 North Korea's go-getters are no different 390 00:28:09.580 --> 00:28:11.730 from their counterparts in the West. 391 00:28:16.145 --> 00:28:19.312 (Lee speaking Korean) 392 00:28:51.776 --> 00:28:55.026 (Park speaking Korean) 393 00:29:12.285 --> 00:29:15.896 (reporter speaking Korean) 394 00:29:15.896 --> 00:29:19.104 (Park speaking Korean) (reporter speaking Korean) 395 00:29:19.104 --> 00:29:21.521 (soft music) 396 00:29:22.938 --> 00:29:24.355 Hamburg, Germany. 397 00:29:25.600 --> 00:29:26.830 Until a few years ago, 398 00:29:26.830 --> 00:29:30.670 the North Korean state insurance company KNIC 399 00:29:30.670 --> 00:29:34.163 had a branch in an innocuous-looking apartment block here. 400 00:29:35.290 --> 00:29:37.930 Six North Korean officials made deals 401 00:29:37.930 --> 00:29:41.269 with major European insurance companies. 402 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:44.436 (Koh speaking Korean) 403 00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:42.000 One case among many. 404 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:44.180 In 2015, the European Union 405 00:30:44.180 --> 00:30:46.310 put the North Korean insurance company 406 00:30:46.310 --> 00:30:48.290 on their sanctions list. 407 00:30:48.290 --> 00:30:51.800 The accusation: co-financing of the nuclear weapons 408 00:30:51.800 --> 00:30:54.940 program through Bureau 39. 409 00:30:54.940 --> 00:30:58.270 Experts estimate that with crashed helicopters 410 00:30:58.270 --> 00:30:59.600 and similar tricks, 411 00:30:59.600 --> 00:31:03.053 the Kim regime earned several hundred million dollars. 412 00:31:03.930 --> 00:31:07.097 (Koh speaking Korean) 413 00:31:12.450 --> 00:31:14.300 But how does the Kim regime 414 00:31:14.300 --> 00:31:19.130 manage to transfer the millions it makes to Pyongyang? 415 00:31:19.130 --> 00:31:22.323 The answer is simple: through diplomatic channels. 416 00:31:23.426 --> 00:31:26.593 (Lee speaking Korean) 417 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.530 North Korea uses its worldwide network 418 00:31:45.530 --> 00:31:49.320 of embassies to ferry money back to Pyongyang. 419 00:31:49.320 --> 00:31:53.040 North Korean officials enjoying diplomatic immunity 420 00:31:53.040 --> 00:31:56.450 carry the money in cash in their flight baggage. 421 00:31:56.450 --> 00:31:59.090 A simple but efficient way to ensure 422 00:31:59.090 --> 00:32:01.040 the cash flow doesn't stop. 423 00:32:07.418 --> 00:32:09.740 - The North Korean embassies have a diplomatic function, 424 00:32:09.740 --> 00:32:11.853 but that's often mainly ceremonial. 425 00:32:12.850 --> 00:32:14.660 But their true function is financial. 426 00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:16.483 It's also illegal, mainly. 427 00:32:18.430 --> 00:32:21.433 North Korean diplomats are basically cash carriers for Kim. 428 00:32:22.580 --> 00:32:25.100 They're entrepreneurs, they're businessmen. 429 00:32:25.100 --> 00:32:27.817 They may be drug lords, they may be weapons smugglers, 430 00:32:27.817 --> 00:32:30.240 but they carry a diplomatic passport, 431 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:31.440 so you can't touch them. 432 00:32:33.290 --> 00:32:34.690 - [Narrator] Berlin. 433 00:32:34.690 --> 00:32:36.130 Right in the middle of the city 434 00:32:36.130 --> 00:32:38.223 lies the North Korean embassy. 435 00:32:39.070 --> 00:32:41.030 The North Koreans have been renting out 436 00:32:41.030 --> 00:32:43.890 one of the buildings as a hostel for tourists. 437 00:32:43.890 --> 00:32:47.913 They've been earning 38,000 euros per month in rent. 438 00:32:49.100 --> 00:32:52.090 Using embassy grounds for such activities 439 00:32:52.090 --> 00:32:54.730 is against diplomatic practices 440 00:32:54.730 --> 00:32:57.973 and contravenes UN and EU sanctions. 441 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:02.540 But despite the efforts of German authorities, 442 00:33:02.540 --> 00:33:05.683 operations have been continuing for years. 443 00:33:07.670 --> 00:33:08.910 - Like any other country, 444 00:33:08.910 --> 00:33:12.580 the main goal of the embassies is to serve the state. 445 00:33:12.580 --> 00:33:15.950 And the North Korean state's priorities, in particular. 446 00:33:15.950 --> 00:33:20.350 So, because sanctions are so comprehensive now, 447 00:33:20.350 --> 00:33:22.210 much of the activities conducted 448 00:33:22.210 --> 00:33:24.763 in these embassies may be prohibited. 449 00:33:28.060 --> 00:33:32.410 Providing military supplies, training, 450 00:33:32.410 --> 00:33:33.930 and much of that has been done 451 00:33:33.930 --> 00:33:36.100 through North Korea's embassies, 452 00:33:36.100 --> 00:33:39.720 particularly in Africa and the Middle East. 453 00:33:39.720 --> 00:33:42.270 So out of all the countries in the Middle East, 454 00:33:42.270 --> 00:33:45.940 currently the Syrian Arab Republic has the greatest levels 455 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:49.140 of prohibited cooperation 456 00:33:49.140 --> 00:33:51.403 with North Korean military entities. 457 00:33:54.970 --> 00:33:56.690 - [Narrator] Hafiz al-Assad, 458 00:33:56.690 --> 00:33:59.410 the father of the current Syrian despot, 459 00:33:59.410 --> 00:34:04.000 and Kim Il-sung were friends from the 1960s on. 460 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.510 Back then, the North Koreans helped the Syrians 461 00:34:06.510 --> 00:34:08.530 during the war against Israel 462 00:34:08.530 --> 00:34:11.560 and supplied them with weapons and ammunition. 463 00:34:11.560 --> 00:34:15.283 An important source of income right up till today. 464 00:34:21.430 --> 00:34:25.970 Using tactics similar to those of 18th century pirates, 465 00:34:25.970 --> 00:34:30.970 Bureau 39 runs ships under false flags and fake names. 466 00:34:32.050 --> 00:34:35.360 According to the UN, North Korea has thus managed 467 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:39.673 to send large numbers of weapons and grenades to Syria. 468 00:34:40.690 --> 00:34:43.510 Between 2012 and 2017, 469 00:34:43.510 --> 00:34:46.570 at least 40 shipments from North Korea 470 00:34:46.570 --> 00:34:48.800 passed through the Suez Canal. 471 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:53.800 But in 2018, the UN managed to have one of them intercepted. 472 00:34:57.800 --> 00:35:02.350 - So, we found something, cargo on its way to Syria. 473 00:35:02.350 --> 00:35:05.940 These were acid-resistant tiles and valves, 474 00:35:05.940 --> 00:35:09.760 which could be used in chemical weapons development. 475 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:12.770 But also, missile fuel is highly corrosive. 476 00:35:12.770 --> 00:35:15.470 And such tiles could be used 477 00:35:15.470 --> 00:35:18.420 for ballistic missile program as well. 478 00:35:18.420 --> 00:35:23.420 The bill of lading clearly gave us an address in Syria, 479 00:35:23.540 --> 00:35:25.190 an established front company 480 00:35:25.190 --> 00:35:30.190 for Syria's Scientific Studies Research Center, the SSRC, 481 00:35:30.220 --> 00:35:34.030 which is responsible for Syria's ballistic missile 482 00:35:34.030 --> 00:35:36.853 and chemical weapons development program. 483 00:35:40.193 --> 00:35:41.680 - [Narrator] The chemical weapons produced 484 00:35:41.680 --> 00:35:43.800 in these laboratories have been used 485 00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:48.590 by Syria's dictator Assad against his own people for years. 486 00:35:48.590 --> 00:35:50.270 - [Reporter] And pictures of many others 487 00:35:50.270 --> 00:35:52.833 who died in agony, foaming at the mouth. 488 00:35:54.330 --> 00:35:57.020 - [Narrator] It's a little-known fact that the Syrian 489 00:35:57.020 --> 00:35:59.500 chemical weapons program was created 490 00:35:59.500 --> 00:36:03.810 with the help of North Korean technicians and scientists. 491 00:36:03.810 --> 00:36:08.810 - Syria's Scientific Studies Research Center, the SSRC, 492 00:36:09.030 --> 00:36:12.380 have facilities located close to Damascus, 493 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:14.980 Homs and elsewhere in Syria. 494 00:36:14.980 --> 00:36:17.720 And some of these sites were subsequently bombed 495 00:36:17.720 --> 00:36:19.343 by the United States. 496 00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:24.320 - More than a hundred missiles were fired 497 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:28.340 in a joint action targeting suspected chemical weapon sites. 498 00:36:28.340 --> 00:36:30.770 President Trump declares: mission accomplished, 499 00:36:30.770 --> 00:36:33.483 saying missile strikes against Syria by the U.S., 500 00:36:33.483 --> 00:36:36.553 Britain and France were perfectly executed. 501 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:40.550 - The purpose of our actions tonight 502 00:36:40.550 --> 00:36:44.180 is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, 503 00:36:44.180 --> 00:36:47.173 spread and use of chemical weapons. 504 00:36:48.550 --> 00:36:52.070 - Well, when the Americans bombed the chemical laboratories, 505 00:36:52.070 --> 00:36:53.810 they bombed the North Koreans there. 506 00:36:53.810 --> 00:36:54.807 Whether they knew they were bombing 507 00:36:54.807 --> 00:36:56.900 the North Koreans, I don't know. 508 00:36:56.900 --> 00:36:57.950 But they did, yes. 509 00:36:57.950 --> 00:36:59.970 The North Korean presence in Syria 510 00:36:59.970 --> 00:37:03.671 is really much underreported and underappreciated. 511 00:37:03.671 --> 00:37:06.671 (suspenseful music) 512 00:37:09.130 --> 00:37:12.600 Had Syria not been able to count on North Korea 513 00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:14.963 to sell to it its weapons, 514 00:37:16.690 --> 00:37:21.070 its guided missiles, its chemical laboratories, 515 00:37:21.070 --> 00:37:22.790 perhaps Assad would not have emerged 516 00:37:22.790 --> 00:37:24.483 as a victor from this struggle. 517 00:37:26.580 --> 00:37:28.320 - [Narrator] One third of all buildings 518 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:30.560 in Syria have been destroyed. 519 00:37:30.560 --> 00:37:34.720 A tragedy and a business opportunity. 520 00:37:34.720 --> 00:37:37.010 The Syrian regime hopes for billions 521 00:37:37.010 --> 00:37:38.770 from international donors 522 00:37:38.770 --> 00:37:41.270 for the reconstruction of the country. 523 00:37:41.270 --> 00:37:45.260 The necessary work brigades are to come from North Korea. 524 00:37:45.260 --> 00:37:46.970 The two countries signed a contract 525 00:37:46.970 --> 00:37:49.820 at a meeting in June, 2019. 526 00:37:49.820 --> 00:37:51.733 Dirty deals between despots. 527 00:37:53.540 --> 00:37:55.900 - The money that's earned by Office 39, 528 00:37:55.900 --> 00:37:58.500 it goes straight into the coffers of the leadership. 529 00:38:00.490 --> 00:38:03.890 It is used on the one hand to provide for luxury items. 530 00:38:03.890 --> 00:38:07.660 It is used to pay for the Mercedes Benz cars 531 00:38:07.660 --> 00:38:09.320 that somehow found their way 532 00:38:09.320 --> 00:38:12.280 into North Korea despite the sanctions. 533 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.540 But it is also used, and this is probably more important, 534 00:38:15.540 --> 00:38:19.423 to deliver the best hackers you can train. 535 00:38:21.110 --> 00:38:22.750 As early as the mid-80s, 536 00:38:22.750 --> 00:38:27.400 Kim Jong-il started training the most talented children 537 00:38:27.400 --> 00:38:29.450 in terms of mathematical abilities 538 00:38:29.450 --> 00:38:32.330 and programming abilities to become cyber hackers. 539 00:38:32.330 --> 00:38:34.000 They're also good money earners. 540 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:38.210 Ransomware, like the WannaCry virus for example, 541 00:38:38.210 --> 00:38:41.820 is considered to come from the North Koreans. 542 00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:43.270 - [Reporter] It is the biggest cyberattack 543 00:38:43.270 --> 00:38:44.930 the world has ever seen. 544 00:38:44.930 --> 00:38:46.570 Hundreds of thousands of computers 545 00:38:46.570 --> 00:38:50.540 around the world in about 150 countries rendered useless. 546 00:38:50.540 --> 00:38:53.360 Now the US government is publicly placing the blame 547 00:38:53.360 --> 00:38:56.490 for that cyber-assault, uniquely dubbed WannaCry, 548 00:38:56.490 --> 00:38:59.280 squarely on Kim Jong-un's army of hackers. 549 00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.700 British intelligence officials and Microsoft 550 00:39:01.700 --> 00:39:04.440 had previously concluded that groups associated 551 00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:05.910 with the North Korean regime 552 00:39:05.910 --> 00:39:08.163 were responsible for the WannaCry hack. 553 00:39:11.200 --> 00:39:13.020 - [Narrator] In Seoul, computer specialists 554 00:39:13.020 --> 00:39:16.200 are hot on the heels of North Korean hackers. 555 00:39:16.200 --> 00:39:18.470 Simon Choi works as a consultant 556 00:39:18.470 --> 00:39:21.183 for South Korean intelligence agencies. 557 00:39:23.941 --> 00:39:27.274 (Simon speaking Korean) 558 00:39:43.170 --> 00:39:46.650 North Korea has limited access to the Internet, 559 00:39:46.650 --> 00:39:50.840 only 1,000 IP addresses are available to the country. 560 00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:53.060 North Korean computer specialists 561 00:39:53.060 --> 00:39:55.570 use them to attack other countries. 562 00:39:55.570 --> 00:39:58.467 Experts estimate that between 600 563 00:39:58.467 --> 00:40:01.955 and 1,300 hackers work for Kim. 564 00:40:01.955 --> 00:40:05.288 (Simon speaking Korean) 565 00:40:28.090 --> 00:40:31.350 Experts estimate that up to two billion dollars 566 00:40:31.350 --> 00:40:33.160 have been stolen by young, 567 00:40:33.160 --> 00:40:35.683 highly trained North Korean hackers. 568 00:40:38.124 --> 00:40:40.780 (soft music) 569 00:40:40.780 --> 00:40:43.930 North Korea has developed an efficient education system 570 00:40:43.930 --> 00:40:45.913 for its upper middle class. 571 00:40:49.510 --> 00:40:51.910 Here at Pyongyang Middle School, 572 00:40:51.910 --> 00:40:54.720 the children who will later be computer specialists, 573 00:40:54.720 --> 00:40:57.440 scientists and engineers are trained 574 00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:01.573 to shape the future of the country, at home or abroad. 575 00:41:02.417 --> 00:41:04.316 - Hello, everybody, nice to meet you. 576 00:41:04.316 --> 00:41:06.227 I am (indistinct). I am eight years old. 577 00:41:06.227 --> 00:41:09.510 But I'm a student, I can speak English, 578 00:41:09.510 --> 00:41:13.640 I can speak Chinese, I can speak Russian too. 579 00:41:13.640 --> 00:41:16.920 I count on the abacus, it's real fun. 580 00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:17.827 Thank you. 581 00:41:21.050 --> 00:41:24.910 - [Narrator] The students also learn how to use computers. 582 00:41:24.910 --> 00:41:27.240 They have access to a very limited 583 00:41:27.240 --> 00:41:30.320 North Korean version of the internet. 584 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:33.883 Uncensored variety is strictly forbidden. 585 00:41:38.220 --> 00:41:39.830 North Korea's rulers know 586 00:41:39.830 --> 00:41:42.350 that once the doors to the digital world 587 00:41:42.350 --> 00:41:46.830 have been thrown open, they can never be shut again. 588 00:41:46.830 --> 00:41:48.960 But despite all precautions, 589 00:41:48.960 --> 00:41:51.630 in 2007 North Korea faced 590 00:41:51.630 --> 00:41:55.220 the first digital data leak in its history. 591 00:41:55.220 --> 00:41:57.470 Because a lot of classified information 592 00:41:57.470 --> 00:41:59.660 is now available digitally, 593 00:41:59.660 --> 00:42:03.880 it can easily be copied and smuggled out of the country. 594 00:42:03.880 --> 00:42:08.210 For example, the data of Pyongyang's municipal registry 595 00:42:08.210 --> 00:42:10.810 with more than two million entries. 596 00:42:10.810 --> 00:42:13.170 Professor Breuker obtained a copy 597 00:42:13.170 --> 00:42:16.823 and is currently analyzing it using special software. 598 00:42:19.430 --> 00:42:23.883 - We never had this kind of up-to-date information ever. 599 00:42:27.350 --> 00:42:30.550 If you want to understand the system, the regime, the party, 600 00:42:30.550 --> 00:42:32.240 if you want to understand Pyongyang, 601 00:42:32.240 --> 00:42:34.900 if you want to understand North Korean economic activities 602 00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:36.470 in and outside of the country, 603 00:42:36.470 --> 00:42:38.510 this is really the Stone of Rosetta. 604 00:42:41.130 --> 00:42:43.640 We can now actually go about analyzing 605 00:42:43.640 --> 00:42:46.410 and mapping Pyongyang for the first time. 606 00:42:46.410 --> 00:42:49.280 And we're no longer dependent on anecdotes, 607 00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:52.213 on people who tell us where all the buildings are. 608 00:42:53.290 --> 00:42:56.250 We can actually now see who's inside the buildings, 609 00:42:56.250 --> 00:42:59.260 what companies there are, what departments there are, 610 00:42:59.260 --> 00:43:00.910 and where you should locate them. 611 00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:06.730 - [Narrator] The data proves the main building of Bureau 39 612 00:43:06.730 --> 00:43:09.010 is close to the seat of power, 613 00:43:09.010 --> 00:43:11.330 right in the middle of Pyongyang. 614 00:43:11.330 --> 00:43:13.070 Just a stone's throw away 615 00:43:13.070 --> 00:43:15.313 from the headquarters of the Workers Party. 616 00:43:16.790 --> 00:43:19.470 It's divided into six main departments 617 00:43:19.470 --> 00:43:23.460 and employs several thousand people in Pyongyang alone. 618 00:43:23.460 --> 00:43:27.110 They have their own fleet of vehicles, kindergartens, 619 00:43:27.110 --> 00:43:32.110 a golf course, an ostrich farm and even their own bank. 620 00:43:33.000 --> 00:43:36.190 These six main departments are in turn responsible 621 00:43:36.190 --> 00:43:40.980 for hundreds of individual companies throughout North Korea. 622 00:43:40.980 --> 00:43:44.200 They control iron ore and diamond mines, 623 00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:47.840 jewelry factories and textile companies. 624 00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:51.700 They're mainly specialized in exporting goods abroad. 625 00:43:51.700 --> 00:43:55.180 Other companies in the Bureau earn foreign exchange 626 00:43:55.180 --> 00:43:59.120 through forced labor, arms smuggling and insurance fraud. 627 00:43:59.120 --> 00:44:01.560 But one rule applies to all: 628 00:44:01.560 --> 00:44:06.560 the name Bureau 39 is never mentioned outside North Korea, 629 00:44:06.890 --> 00:44:09.160 so it remains invisible. 630 00:44:09.160 --> 00:44:12.973 Impossible for UN sanctions monitors to detect. 631 00:44:13.830 --> 00:44:16.247 (soft music) 632 00:44:21.246 --> 00:44:24.413 (Lee speaking Korean) 633 00:44:45.057 --> 00:44:48.307 (Park speaking Korean) 634 00:45:08.602 --> 00:45:11.020 North Korea is changing. 635 00:45:11.020 --> 00:45:13.640 An impoverished socialist state 636 00:45:13.640 --> 00:45:14.960 has turned into a country 637 00:45:14.960 --> 00:45:18.000 with a highly flexible shadow economy. 638 00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:21.900 In many ways, North Korea is run like a commercial company. 639 00:45:21.900 --> 00:45:25.220 All that matters is cash for Kim. 640 00:45:25.220 --> 00:45:26.800 The workers here are no longer 641 00:45:26.800 --> 00:45:29.160 slaving away for the revolution, 642 00:45:29.160 --> 00:45:32.710 but for the wealth of their leader and his cronies. 643 00:45:32.710 --> 00:45:36.610 The gap between rich and poor is widening. 644 00:45:36.610 --> 00:45:38.290 While the population in Pyongyang 645 00:45:38.290 --> 00:45:41.580 enjoys a constantly growing prosperity, 646 00:45:41.580 --> 00:45:46.430 40% of the rural population still suffer from malnutrition. 647 00:45:46.430 --> 00:45:48.510 In order to control its people, 648 00:45:48.510 --> 00:45:52.910 the regime employs Cold War-era socialist tactics. 649 00:45:52.910 --> 00:45:56.090 North Korea's shadow economy, on the other hand, 650 00:45:56.090 --> 00:45:59.283 is 21st century capitalist. 651 00:46:00.160 --> 00:46:02.870 - What the database shows beyond any doubt 652 00:46:02.870 --> 00:46:05.480 is that Office 39 not only exists, 653 00:46:05.480 --> 00:46:07.483 now we can prove what it does. 654 00:46:08.540 --> 00:46:11.840 It owns companies. It operates these companies. 655 00:46:11.840 --> 00:46:13.830 It exports clothes. 656 00:46:13.830 --> 00:46:16.440 It exports tobacco. 657 00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:18.700 It exports all kinds of things. 658 00:46:18.700 --> 00:46:23.040 And that is actually quite an important development 659 00:46:23.040 --> 00:46:25.830 in understanding how North Korea 660 00:46:25.830 --> 00:46:28.220 manages to earn money abroad. 661 00:46:28.220 --> 00:46:32.830 And we now know exactly through what kind of departments, 662 00:46:32.830 --> 00:46:36.073 through what kind of companies Office 39 does this. 663 00:46:38.750 --> 00:46:41.540 - [Narrator] The Kim Jong-suk silk spinning mill, 664 00:46:41.540 --> 00:46:44.093 named after Kim Jong-un's grandmother. 665 00:46:45.900 --> 00:46:47.293 A model factory. 666 00:46:49.100 --> 00:46:52.963 1,600 workers are employed here, most of them women. 667 00:46:55.020 --> 00:46:58.260 They sort, process and boil the cocoons 668 00:46:58.260 --> 00:47:01.343 of the silkworms to obtain the precious yarn. 669 00:47:05.010 --> 00:47:08.820 The silkworms come from a province south of Pyongyang. 670 00:47:08.820 --> 00:47:12.563 About 200 tons of silk are produced here every year. 671 00:47:13.690 --> 00:47:18.180 A luxury product, expensive and labor-intensive. 672 00:47:18.180 --> 00:47:20.340 The factory's entire production 673 00:47:20.340 --> 00:47:22.493 is intended for export abroad. 674 00:47:23.830 --> 00:47:25.800 But the supervisors are unwilling 675 00:47:25.800 --> 00:47:28.907 to disclose who the foreign customers are. 676 00:47:30.530 --> 00:47:33.713 - I'm not sure anymore who suffers under those sanctions. 677 00:47:36.130 --> 00:47:38.470 It's a hassle, I'm sure, for North Koreans. 678 00:47:38.470 --> 00:47:39.987 But they do find ways around it. 679 00:47:39.987 --> 00:47:43.580 One of the problems is that neither China nor Russia 680 00:47:43.580 --> 00:47:46.483 is helping in enforcing the sanctions. 681 00:47:49.505 --> 00:47:52.755 (Park speaking Korean) 682 00:48:24.156 --> 00:48:28.446 (reporter speaking Korean) 683 00:48:28.446 --> 00:48:31.696 (Park speaking Korean) 684 00:48:32.890 --> 00:48:35.380 - [Narrator] Textiles are the second most important 685 00:48:35.380 --> 00:48:38.203 North Korean export product after coal. 686 00:48:40.325 --> 00:48:44.075 (translator speaking Korean) 687 00:48:54.804 --> 00:48:58.137 (Seong speaking Korean) 688 00:49:06.811 --> 00:49:09.125 (translator speaking Korean) 689 00:49:09.125 --> 00:49:12.458 (Seong speaking Korean) 690 00:49:21.795 --> 00:49:23.850 Dandong, China. 691 00:49:23.850 --> 00:49:25.920 North Korea's gateway to the world 692 00:49:27.450 --> 00:49:30.790 and a symbol of how futile the UN's efforts are 693 00:49:30.790 --> 00:49:33.293 to dry up Kim's sources of cash. 694 00:49:35.060 --> 00:49:38.800 The Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge across the Yalu River 695 00:49:38.800 --> 00:49:43.030 has been connecting China and North Korea since 1943. 696 00:49:43.030 --> 00:49:47.320 It's one of the few ways to enter or leave North Korea. 697 00:49:47.320 --> 00:49:51.610 Every day, trucks queue in front of the customs checkpoint. 698 00:49:51.610 --> 00:49:55.870 Smugglers, traders, and also the agents and entrepreneurs 699 00:49:55.870 --> 00:49:59.913 of Bureau 39, they're all hoping for a quick deal here. 700 00:50:01.810 --> 00:50:03.940 China is by far North Korea's 701 00:50:03.940 --> 00:50:06.310 most important trading partner. 702 00:50:06.310 --> 00:50:11.310 Financial experts estimate that 90% of North Korea's exports 703 00:50:11.470 --> 00:50:14.348 go to its powerful neighbor in the North. 704 00:50:14.348 --> 00:50:16.765 (soft music) 705 00:50:20.250 --> 00:50:21.840 Thousands of North Koreans 706 00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:24.943 are said to work in textile factories in the region. 707 00:50:27.690 --> 00:50:31.240 Disguised as businessmen and equipped with hidden cameras, 708 00:50:31.240 --> 00:50:33.930 we film in one of the factories. 709 00:50:33.930 --> 00:50:37.360 Chinese textile companies hire North Koreans 710 00:50:37.360 --> 00:50:41.810 because their wages are lower than those of Chinese workers. 711 00:50:41.810 --> 00:50:44.780 These seamstresses work day and night, 712 00:50:44.780 --> 00:50:47.850 and often sleep on the company premises. 713 00:50:47.850 --> 00:50:50.230 They're likely to be locked up for years, 714 00:50:50.230 --> 00:50:52.113 far away from their families. 715 00:50:56.180 --> 00:50:58.210 Together with a team of labor lawyers, 716 00:50:58.210 --> 00:51:00.680 trade experts and data specialists, 717 00:51:00.680 --> 00:51:04.960 Remco Breuker tries to find out whether European brands 718 00:51:04.960 --> 00:51:06.950 work with Chinese companies 719 00:51:06.950 --> 00:51:11.253 that directly or indirectly employ North Koreans. 720 00:51:13.704 --> 00:51:14.733 - Well, we found out different things. 721 00:51:14.733 --> 00:51:18.300 And one of the things we were actually hoping to establish 722 00:51:18.300 --> 00:51:22.010 was the use of North Korean workers in Chinese factories. 723 00:51:22.010 --> 00:51:25.410 But what we found, really to our surprise, 724 00:51:25.410 --> 00:51:28.610 is that, yes, we do have North Korean workers 725 00:51:28.610 --> 00:51:31.220 working under slave-like conditions in China, 726 00:51:31.220 --> 00:51:32.510 but more than that, 727 00:51:32.510 --> 00:51:34.130 Chinese factories outsource 728 00:51:34.130 --> 00:51:36.523 to North Korean factories in North Korea. 729 00:51:39.390 --> 00:51:41.610 We've managed to prove the existence 730 00:51:41.610 --> 00:51:45.440 of a significant amount of North Korean slave labor 731 00:51:45.440 --> 00:51:46.920 in the supply chain 732 00:51:46.920 --> 00:51:49.453 of some of the world's leading clothing companies. 733 00:51:52.120 --> 00:51:55.450 Basically, in Europe and the U.S. we've come to an agreement 734 00:51:55.450 --> 00:51:58.870 that we no longer wish to find slave labor 735 00:51:58.870 --> 00:52:00.590 or child labor in our supply chains, 736 00:52:00.590 --> 00:52:02.620 so there are all kinds of agreements in place. 737 00:52:02.620 --> 00:52:04.800 But if you look closer at some of these producers, 738 00:52:04.800 --> 00:52:08.690 you find that sometimes up to 90% of the production 739 00:52:08.690 --> 00:52:10.513 does not take place in China. 740 00:52:11.420 --> 00:52:15.340 It does not take place in the factories where the European 741 00:52:15.340 --> 00:52:17.260 and the Americans auditors come 742 00:52:17.260 --> 00:52:20.260 to check whether working conditions are decent. 743 00:52:20.260 --> 00:52:22.230 Yes, they are in those factories, 744 00:52:22.230 --> 00:52:25.580 but that's only where 10% of the products are made. 745 00:52:25.580 --> 00:52:28.540 The other 90% comes from North Korea. 746 00:52:28.540 --> 00:52:30.640 - [Narrator] Breuker's team investigated 747 00:52:30.640 --> 00:52:33.510 one Chinese textile company more closely. 748 00:52:33.510 --> 00:52:35.520 It's called Vent d'Est. 749 00:52:35.520 --> 00:52:37.900 Their website states that the company 750 00:52:37.900 --> 00:52:42.260 relies on low labor cost and abundant human resources. 751 00:52:42.260 --> 00:52:44.260 Their list of customers reads 752 00:52:44.260 --> 00:52:48.270 like a who's who of international fashion brands. 753 00:52:48.270 --> 00:52:50.840 The website features a men's jacket. 754 00:52:50.840 --> 00:52:54.100 Next to it it says: "Korean imported". 755 00:52:54.100 --> 00:52:57.783 The buttons carry a label: Armani Jeans. 756 00:52:58.620 --> 00:53:00.380 Using trade databases, 757 00:53:00.380 --> 00:53:03.860 Breuker's team analyzed Vent d'Est's business relations 758 00:53:03.860 --> 00:53:07.110 between 2013 and 2019. 759 00:53:07.110 --> 00:53:09.690 The databases use customs data 760 00:53:09.690 --> 00:53:11.840 showing which goods are sent back and forth 761 00:53:11.840 --> 00:53:14.660 between companies in different countries. 762 00:53:14.660 --> 00:53:18.610 - So, what happens is that China sends the material 763 00:53:18.610 --> 00:53:21.950 to make certain types of clothes to North Korea. 764 00:53:21.950 --> 00:53:25.080 One month later, they're shipped back in the same container, 765 00:53:25.080 --> 00:53:27.200 and then you have finished clothes. 766 00:53:27.200 --> 00:53:30.110 Those clothes are then shipped to, say, 767 00:53:30.110 --> 00:53:33.760 the Netherlands or to Germany or to America. 768 00:53:33.760 --> 00:53:36.380 And from there they're distributed into our stores. 769 00:53:36.380 --> 00:53:40.030 - [Narrator] Between 2013 and December 2016, 770 00:53:40.030 --> 00:53:43.500 Vent d'Est sent around $10 million worth of fabrics 771 00:53:43.500 --> 00:53:46.460 and raw materials to North Korea. 772 00:53:46.460 --> 00:53:47.970 During the same period, 773 00:53:47.970 --> 00:53:50.460 Vent d'Est received finished garments 774 00:53:50.460 --> 00:53:54.673 worth almost $25 million from North Korea. 775 00:53:57.710 --> 00:54:02.650 Customs classify textiles by so-called HS codes. 776 00:54:02.650 --> 00:54:04.670 A ladies' sweater, for example, 777 00:54:04.670 --> 00:54:09.330 has a different HS Code than men's jeans. 778 00:54:09.330 --> 00:54:14.190 We take a closer look at HS Code 6201. 779 00:54:14.190 --> 00:54:17.350 It stands for men's anoraks and jackets, 780 00:54:17.350 --> 00:54:19.683 like the Armani jacket on the website. 781 00:54:22.170 --> 00:54:25.660 Between 2013 and December 2016, 782 00:54:25.660 --> 00:54:29.320 Vent d'Est imported garments worth $12 million 783 00:54:29.320 --> 00:54:32.260 with this code from North Korea. 784 00:54:32.260 --> 00:54:34.910 The same code is also used for deliveries 785 00:54:34.910 --> 00:54:38.360 from Vent d'Est to Europe and the US. 786 00:54:38.360 --> 00:54:41.083 Among the customers: Armani. 787 00:54:42.920 --> 00:54:45.080 Armani jackets that look exactly 788 00:54:45.080 --> 00:54:47.200 like the one on Vent d'Est's website 789 00:54:47.200 --> 00:54:49.340 can also be bought in Europe. 790 00:54:49.340 --> 00:54:52.780 This one costs 219 euros. 791 00:54:52.780 --> 00:54:55.790 It can't be proven beyond doubt whether garments 792 00:54:55.790 --> 00:54:57.790 like this one are made in North Korea. 793 00:54:57.790 --> 00:55:00.160 But can it be ruled out? 794 00:55:00.160 --> 00:55:02.280 We ask the fashion brands. 795 00:55:02.280 --> 00:55:05.220 Armani writes, "We confirm that Vent d'Est 796 00:55:05.220 --> 00:55:09.130 is one of our suppliers and as such is regularly subject 797 00:55:09.130 --> 00:55:11.070 to checks and inspections, 798 00:55:11.070 --> 00:55:14.240 the result of these checks being that no finished products 799 00:55:14.240 --> 00:55:16.430 are manufactured in North Korea. 800 00:55:16.430 --> 00:55:17.920 Like all our suppliers, 801 00:55:17.920 --> 00:55:21.890 it's also required to declare which subcontractors it uses 802 00:55:21.890 --> 00:55:23.610 and where these are concerned 803 00:55:23.610 --> 00:55:27.560 it's also the case that none are in North Korea." 804 00:55:27.560 --> 00:55:31.010 We've also contacted Vent d'Est in writing. 805 00:55:31.010 --> 00:55:34.350 The company offered no explanation as to why 806 00:55:34.350 --> 00:55:37.723 and to what extent it trades with North Korea. 807 00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:43.170 One thing can be said for certain. 808 00:55:43.170 --> 00:55:46.280 Well-known fashion brands have their goods manufactured 809 00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:51.280 by a Chinese company that cooperates with North Korea. 810 00:55:51.420 --> 00:55:54.640 A country where workers have no rights. 811 00:55:54.640 --> 00:55:57.723 Where human life counts for nothing. 812 00:55:58.640 --> 00:56:00.530 Breuker's investigation shows 813 00:56:00.530 --> 00:56:03.193 that this is not an isolated incident. 814 00:56:05.240 --> 00:56:06.370 - For years and years, 815 00:56:06.370 --> 00:56:10.160 we've heard testimonies from North Korean escapees 816 00:56:10.160 --> 00:56:11.650 who were in concentration camps, 817 00:56:11.650 --> 00:56:14.520 that they had been forced there to produce textiles 818 00:56:14.520 --> 00:56:19.520 for the export market for famous Western brands. 819 00:56:19.560 --> 00:56:22.450 And I think for the first time I've been able to corroborate 820 00:56:22.450 --> 00:56:25.450 that through an external source, so not through a testimony. 821 00:56:27.450 --> 00:56:32.310 In the same database, I found the department, 822 00:56:32.310 --> 00:56:33.700 the bureaucratic department, 823 00:56:33.700 --> 00:56:38.040 that is responsible for managing the production of textiles 824 00:56:38.040 --> 00:56:40.690 for one of the concentration camps outside Pyongyang. 825 00:56:44.760 --> 00:56:48.070 It means that we not only buy clothes 826 00:56:48.070 --> 00:56:52.360 produced by forced laborers, maybe even slave labor, 827 00:56:52.360 --> 00:56:56.410 we may even buy clothes in the Netherlands, in Germany, 828 00:56:56.410 --> 00:56:58.610 all through Europe, in America, 829 00:56:58.610 --> 00:57:00.580 that was made in concentration camps 830 00:57:00.580 --> 00:57:04.120 by people who will never see the light of day again. 831 00:57:04.120 --> 00:57:05.210 These are the kinds of camps 832 00:57:05.210 --> 00:57:07.560 that you don't leave until you're dead. 833 00:57:07.560 --> 00:57:11.750 That is just too horrific to put in words. 834 00:57:11.750 --> 00:57:13.299 And we're complicit. 835 00:57:13.299 --> 00:57:15.716 (soft music) 836 00:57:20.150 --> 00:57:22.740 - [Narrator] Hundreds of thousands of men and women 837 00:57:22.740 --> 00:57:27.363 secretly ensure the survival of the dictatorship. 838 00:57:28.690 --> 00:57:30.750 Their futures are sacrificed 839 00:57:30.750 --> 00:57:35.750 for the luxury of the regime and for our prosperity. 840 00:57:35.840 --> 00:57:39.850 Kim Jong-un is not a crazy dictator, 841 00:57:39.850 --> 00:57:42.730 but a coolly calculating businessman 842 00:57:42.730 --> 00:57:45.743 who runs his country like a company. 843 00:57:46.660 --> 00:57:50.290 His Bureau 39 does business 844 00:57:50.290 --> 00:57:53.753 with everything and everyone, 845 00:57:54.660 --> 00:57:55.963 including us.