Seoul, Washington Focus on N.Korean Spymaster (Gen. O Kuk-ryol)

Chosun Ilbo. ^ | 06/06/09

[TigerLikesRooster]

Seoul, Washington Focus on N.Korean Spymaster

Gen. O Kuk-ryol, the vice chairman of North Korea's National Defense Commission, has emerged as a common target for both U.S. and South Korean authorities. Citing U.S. intelligence officials, the Washington Times on Tuesday said the general and several of his family members play key roles in the production and distribution of so-called "supernotes," which are high-quality counterfeit US$100 bills. South Korean intelligence officials, meanwhile, point to O as the chief of the recently overhauled North Korean apparatus in charge of spying on the South. A South Korean official said O is therefore being closely monitored by both sides.

As one effective sanction against North Korea, the two governments are considering targeting a handful of high-level North Korean officials including O and freezing their overseas bank accounts. One person familiar with North Korean affairs said, "Gen. O, who was promoted to the National Defense Commission in February, is deeply involved in North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's transfer of power to his son." The source added O was a central figure behind North Korea's latest grandstanding, which is believed to be part of efforts to pave the way for a smooth transfer of power from Kim Jong-il to his third son.

A former Air Force commander, O is among the hawks in the North Korean military. When he was chief of staff between 1979 and 1988, O spearheaded efforts to modernize the military, but he was demoted after clashing with O Jin-woo, a key officer, over reforms. O was saved when Kim Jong-il came to his rescue.

South Korean intelligence officials say Kim recently consolidated all the espionage operations in the North Korean military and the Workers Party, placed them under the National Defense Commission, the country's most powerful organization, and put O in charge of that consolidated espionage apparatus. A South Korean intelligence source said the fact that the hawkish O has been put in charge makes it necessary for the South to prepare for provocations by North Korea.

The reconnaissance division, which was placed under the National Defense Commission, no longer falls under the jurisdiction of Kim Yong-chun, chief of the general staff of the Korean People's Army but takes orders directly from Kim Jong-il. The division specializes in terror against South Korea, including assassination and kidnapping. Following the organizational change, the party, which had handled espionage against South Korea, is left with an external liaison office and a department that handles dialogue, business projects and psychological warfare on the South.

During the administrations of former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, the department had been at the forefront of inter-Korean relations, but its power has diminished significantly, and it is now believed to be only in charge of formulating South Korea policy. The department handles communication between the two Koreas, joint business projects and psychological warfare targeting South Korea. A South Korean government source said the strengthening of the surveillance apparatus and the weakening of the party department is a signal that North Korea's espionage and subversive operation against the South will intensify.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Gen. O also commands N. Korean equivalent of old Soviet Union's "KGB Alpha Team." It is said to be 2,000 strong, and Kim Jong-il reportedly boasted that he can do anything he wants as long as he has this unit. He is a military go-to man when regime is at risk.

Several years ago, there was an intense search by Japanese authorties for a supposedly N. Korean man holed up in American naval base in Yokosuka. At the time, U.S. was said to have picked up a son of General O, O Se-wook. It was said that he had either the rank of colonel or junior General at the time. He was in charge of running drug(for Japanese Yakuza) and supernote operation on his father's behalf, but he got addicted to drug and was a trouble-maker of sorts. Since his father is so powerful, he mananged to get off with a slap on a wrist. He eventually bailed. According to S. Korean and Japanese media, he arranged a meeting with a foreign ship for doing his usual deals(probably drug for Japanese mobs) in the open sea, and board the ship and escaped to Yokosuka, Japan. I suppose he is in U.S. now if the report is true.

Gen. O Kuk-ryol

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[Jet Jaguar]

Interesting.

[martin_fierro]

Huh. Looks like a regular party animal.

[ketelone]

Oh Cookie Orios.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

North Korea is a Gangster Regime.They are also involved in drug production(heroin and methanphetamines),counterfeit cigarettes and pharmaceuticals on top of illegal arms selling

[gaijin]

The role of the Yakuza is a puzzling one: while they are clearly nativist and right-wing, they have remarkably consanguinous ties to Koreans and Korean organized crime. I hate to use the word, but they are ethnically more DIVERSE than at first it would would appear.

In some cases it was found that North Korean embassy personnel were using supernotes for cash purposes immediately after getting them and that they barely took detection countermeasures.

Really great post.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I heard that some faction of Yakuza are made up of ethnic Koreans in Japan, the ones who are pro-North. You can also suspect that some factions are more into money than political allegiance.

[SevenofNine]

MAN he look like silent movie star I know of LOL!

[AmericanInTokyo]

One would almost expect such a regime to be officially listed as a Terrorist Nation on the US Terrorist/Terrorist-Supporting Nations list.