North Korea is engaged in clandestine business around the world through a company called KKG to avoid international sanctions, the Financial Times reported Thursday. The daily said North Korea's overseas businesses range from oil exploration to taxi firms, but they all have one thing in common -- the KKG corporate logo. The logo is also found on new taxis in Pyongyang and airport buses in the North. "KKG is one of several joint ventures in North Korea and it's one of the biggest ones," the paper quoted an Asian official as saying.
A source said KKG is short for the Korean name that can be translated as Kumgang economic development corporation, which used to be run by the North Korean military politburo until it was transferred to the National Defense Commission headed by Kim Jong-il in the late 2000s. It is the biggest of the companies tasked with earning valuta for the regime and competes with a rival state business led by eminence grise Jang Song-taek until he was executed in 2013.
The source said KKG president Hwang Yong-sik drives around in a BMW whose license plate bears the number 216, the birthday of former leader Kim Jong-il -- the mark of a very senior official.
"The North Korean end of the KKG network leads to a shadowy organization called Office 39 of the Workers Party," the Financial Times cited Asian and U.S. officials as saying.
The source said among KKG’s jobs are buying oil and luxury cars overseas to keep the elite loyal. "Hwang Yong-sik was able to survive last year's purge because he was not affiliated with Jang Song-taek," the source added.