Kim Jong Un- madman ruler of North Korea,
evil dictator, and... well, a rather portly
man who stands in stark contrast to a malnourished
population.
Despite a major economic upturn in the hermit
kingdom, the sad truth is that most of that
meager economic benefit has not gone to the
majority of the population, but rather to
those such as the elite few allowed to live
in Pyongang and the senior ruling party leadership.
Though exact figures are impossible to ascertain
due to the secretive nature of the country,
North Korean defectors claim that malnourishment
and at times outright starvation are still
common throughout the nation.
On top of this, the CIA confirms that the
nation is unable to grow enough food domestically
to feed itself.
So just how is Kim Jong Un so rotund while
the rest of the nation starves?
As mentioned the CIA publicly states that
North Korea is unable to grow enough food
domestically to feed all of its people.
While normally this isn't great news for a
country, it's almost never catastrophic- plenty
of nations around the world don't grow enough
of certain crops to feed their own people's
demand for those items.
The shortfalls are made up with international
trade, for example the US produces far more
wheat than it consumes, and is in fact the
world's largest exporter of wheat making up
over 15% of global wheat exports, which it
sends to nations lacking in this crop.
Unfortunately for North Korea however, international
sanctions against the nation have stopped
the import of many foodstuffs- leaving the
nation mostly to fend for itself.
During the Cold War North Korea was in effect
a client state of the Soviet Union, and heavily
relied on Soviet imports to feed its people.
However after the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991, food and fuel imports were stopped,
and worst luck of all, just before a major
natural famine struck the nation.
Estimates range from between several hundred
thousand dead to as many as 3 million, and
North Korea quickly began looking for new
support.
Yet with international condemnation against
North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, the
abducting of South Korea and Japanese citizens,
and general bad behavior, there weren't many
nations willing to take the tiny, murderous
kingdom under its wing.
That is until China's ambitions to push the
US out of the Pacific led it to nurture a
deepening relationship with the hermit kingdom,
a longtime thorn in the US's side.
For China, supporting North Korea and propping
it up with food and materials exports was
a win/win: it prevented the nation from descending
into chaos which would prompt a massive refugee
crisis across its own border, and it made
sure that this stubborn thorn would stay permanently
lodged in the US's side.
Yet even China and its international ambitions
have their limits, and after North Korea's
successful nuclear tests not even the Chinese
could withstand the international backlash
against their pet state, and so they too began
to cut trade off with North Korea.
The effects were devastating and sadly- just
like UN sanctions- impacted most the poorer
populations living outside of the gilded city
centers.
Kim Jong Un dug his heels in however, and
turned to that age old North Korea pseudo-religion
of 'Juche' to encourage his people.
Juche is a philosophy of self-reliance enacted
by Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sun.
An international villain from its inception,
North Korea has faced sanctions and trade
restrictions from the start.
While Soviet aid poured into the country every
year, Kim Il Sun was determined that the nation
should stand on its own two feet- thus Juche
was born.
A philosophy of necessity, Juche instructed
the people to bear the hardships they suffered
and to always work to help North Korea be
self-reliant.
The nation should not depend on any outside
aid for help, and should produce all of its
own fuel, food, and materials needed for modern
life completely on its own.
Sadly, this proved to be unrealistic- yet
Juche continued to thrive, and in fact helped
ensure the Kims would stay in power.
Thanks to Juche mass starvations and hardships
were not the fault of poor leadership, but
rather an indirect attack by a hostile world.
By appealing to nationalistic fervor, Juche
helped the Kims hold on to the reins of power.
Yet North Korea was never truly as broke as
it would appear to be.
In the 1970s Kim Il Sung created a secret
government organization that would come to
be known as Office 39.
By setting up a string of companies around
the world, Office 39's goal was to bring in
hard currency to the nation, but instead of
going to meeting the needs of the people,
it would all go straight to the Dear Leader.
This secretive organization continues to operate
around the world, bypassing international
sanctions against North Korean businesses
by posing as other nationalities, and engaging
in both legal and illegal trade.
Today its estimated that Office 39 brings
in up to 2 billion US dollars a year.
To make money for Dear Leader's personal spending
habits, Office 39 engaged in things such as
selling ginseng, gemstones and gold internationally.
To bypass sanctions, the operatives would
smuggle goods from North Korea into China,
and then pose as Chinese.
According to one defector who worked in this
organization for five years, it was easy to
smuggle goods into China because their border
is wide open and the Chinese have generally
only cared about North Korean refugees.
While no direct evidence has ever linked the
Chinese to Office 39 activities, it's well
known that the Chinese have for a long time
turned a blind eye to their puppet-state's
illegal activities, and there are deep suspicious
about how up to $2 billion dollars in illicit
international trade could be orchestrated
by the North Koreans inside Chinese territory
without the Chinese knowing about it.
In all likelihood, China not only knows, but
facilitates the act, taking a cut of the profits
for itself- a form of tax on Kim Jong Un's
slush fund which the Dear Leader is obligated
to pay.
Office 39 also engages heavily in counterfeiting,
narcotics and arms sales.
North Korea's forgery of US $100 bills were
the most accurate fakes in the world, and
came to be known as “supernotes”.
The massive forgery forced the US to immediately
issue new $100 bills with improved security
features.
Office 39 also engages in the sale of narcotics
such as amphetamines and opioids which are
produced domestically and shipped all around
the world, even the US.
To round out the drug trade, Office 39 also
ships weapons to buyers around the world,
including the sale of items banned by international
law such as ballistic missiles.
In 2013 a ship was detained in the Panama
Canal when it was discovered to be smuggling
weapons and parts of ballistic missiles, and
while its Chinese owners feigned ignorance,
it's widely believed they were simply yet
another front for Office 39.
Office 39 is estimated to account for 30 to
40% of the total North korean economy, and
it's not content with simply exporting both
legal and illegal goods.
As the world has wised up to Office 39's schemes,
it's become harder for them to generate money,
which has led to the organization now turning
its eyes inwards.
It's reported that Office 39 has seized on
every profitable sector of the North Korean
economy, everything from marine produce, to
mining, to textiles, and has monopolized it,
sending a sizable portion of the profits for
the Dear Leader.
In exchange this money goes to fund Kim Jong
Un's nuclear program, and helps ensure that
he remains in power by the time-honored and
thoroughly corrupt tradition of North Korea
'gift politics'.
A practice which ensures that the current
Dear Leader stays in the good graces of potential
political adversaries and enemies, gift politics
involves the giving of lavish gifts by the
Dear Leader to subordinates, funded by the
government itself.
In essence, the Kims have for years been buying
the loyalty of the politically powerful around
them with funds meant to see to the needs
of the North Korean population.
With the world's largest collection of liquor
and lavish, decadent parties and ceremonies,
it's no surprise Kim Jong Un is still packing
away the pounds even as his people suffer
and starve.
North Korea has for decades suffered under
the most grievous levels of internal corruption
imaginable, with each subsequent Dear Leader
lining their own pockets while the people
starved.
What will happen when Office 39's money begins
to run dry though?
Also, check out our other video How Cruel
Is North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un?
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