Hello everyone! Thank you for joining me again.
Today we are going to talk about an incident that occurred last month in which the West Sea Fleet’s 8th Squadron
sunk Kim Jong Un’s last source of American currency.
The news I am going to share with you has been deliberately kept a secret.
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but watching to the end is the most important!
As I’m sure you all know,
these days Kim Jong Un’s channels of acquiring foreign currency have been blocked;
he has nowhere to get money now.
In March, I explained that North Korea’s total exports
amount to about 700 million won, or a little over $600,000.
How can you call yourself a nation with only $600,000 in exports?
There are lots of factors behind North Korea’s economic situation,
including sanctions that have blocked the flow of money
that would usually come through the coal, mineral, fishery, and forestry industries.
Also, though many workers have gone overseas,
there’s nowhere for them to make money.
On the other hand, because of Covid-19,
Kim Jong Un has good reason to restrict trade with China.
What can you do when you’ve prevented yourself-
no, find yourself in a situation without any money?
So Kim Jong Un set up one cash cow
that could secretly bring in money.
So, what is it?
This is the first time this information has ever been released.
They were selling dried octopus
and squid to China out of the Songnim Port in Hwanghae-do.
This squid export is managed by Daeheung,
a company associated with the Central Committee Bureau 39 of the Workers’ Party in Korea, or “Room 39”.
So Kim Jong Un set up this slush fund,
and to be honest, there’s no way to stop it.
Even if someone uncovered this scheme,
would China do anything to stop it?
Would South Korea?
The only country that could be relied on to do something is the U.S.,
which routinely threatens strong sanctions against North Korea.
The U.S. State Department even claims on its homepage that it will give reward money
to those who alert it of these kinds of schemes,
but they don’t respond when you reach out with a lead.
I've heard that several people have reported secret dealings worth thousands of dollars,
but none of them ever received reward money.
So, the U.S. puts on this dog and pony show about sanctions,
but it doesn’t actually want to drive Kim Jong Un into a corner
where he feels like he has nothing to lose,
so they’re carefully controlling the situation.
I think this is the case.
So even if they receive a tip,
the U.S. can’t go to China to investigate,
which is why they have no option but to feign ignorance.
Knowing this, Kim Jong Un continued his smuggling operation,
but for one reason or another it was continually thwarted,
so at the end, all that was left was a bunch of dried squid in Room 39.
Ironically, the operation was derailed by a North Korean naval patrol boat.
From Room 39, it is possible to take the East Sea squid
over the Tumen River and across three of China’s Northeastern provinces,
but transporting it over land is dangerous.
The U.S. caught on after reviewing
statistical information from customs.
So North Korea would take the fish that was caught on the Yellow Sea,
and pack it up in Songnim to be delivered by vessel to Dalian, China.
A Chinese shipping company supplied the ships used for the operation.
Basically, when they were on the Yellow Sea,
they would turn off the VMS, or Vessel Monitoring System, to avoid detection,
and then return to North Korea to pack up the squid.
I won’t disclose the name of this company.
If the owner of these ships is caught,
it would implicate high-ranking Chinese government officials working with him.
In order to prevent any problems, they put up a false front.
This company was reputable to an extent.
They had mobilized far more than one ship.
But out of these ships, one was intercepted on the way from Songnim to Dalian,
stocked with dried squid,
by a patrol boat near Cho-do Island, Nampo.
The West Sea Fleet's 8th Squadron base was on Cho-do Island.
This is where the patrol boat was from.
The patrol boat caught the Chinese vessel that had entered its waters,
and demanded identification from its passengers.
The Chinese boat also had backup.
Those on the patrol boat were stern,
suspecting that they were dealing with part of Kim Jong Un’s smuggling operation.
Sailors in the navy are pretty tough,
so an argument broke out, then it turned physical.
They wound up sinking the trapped Chinese vessel.
There were no casualties.
The problem was that the incident angered the Chinese company.
“Why weren’t there any protective measures?” they said,
to which North Korea responded, “The navy fleet had no way of knowing who the ship belonged to!”
Unpersuaded, the Chinese shipping company demanded reparations for the boat,
and said they would stop sending shipping vessels.
So where was North Korea going to get money from?
They can’t get money from China any more,
but now they have all this squid to sell, and figured it would work itself out in due time.
But now Kim Jong Un has had no access to his slush fund in over a month,
and it is prime squid season.
There’s a rumor going around that last month,
a Chinese fishing boat crashed into a North Korean patrol boat off Sinuiju,
killing about ten North Korean sailors.
To talk about this briefly,
it is my understanding that such an event never took place.
The coastal waters of Sinjuiju are near Ryongampo.
There is a group of boats docked at the Nantou Pier in Donggang,
which is downstream from Dandong.
However, the Chinese authorities claimed that the ships are being used for
a smuggling operation that has nothing to do with fishing,
so they’ve been out of commission for a few months.
The Nantou Pier is not well known to the outside world,
and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t even come up in a Google search,
but I would’ve known if something happened there.
My understanding is that Chinese fishing boats
have not been able to go into the waters near Sinuiju for months.
If any of you have connections in Dandong,
try going sometime and check the Nantou Pier,
or take a peek at Sinuiju’s waters with binoculars from Donggang.
I’m pretty sure you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Remember to always tune into Joo Sung Ha TV
for honest and trustworthy news about North Korea.
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