Zokwang Trading

Zokwang Trading
State-owned
Industry Import-export
Founded 1974
Headquarters Zhuhai, People's Republic of China
Zokwang Trading
Chosŏn'gŭl 조광무역
Hancha 朝光貿易
Revised Romanization Jogwang Muyeok
McCune–Reischauer Chogwang Muyŏk
Also spelt Chokwang, Jokwang, Zowkwang, or misspelt as Zok Wang[1]

Zokwang Trading Company is a North Korean state-run import-export business based in Zhuhai, China.[2] It is reportedly controlled by Room 39, a secret department of the government of North Korea.[3]

Zokwang Trading are not on the official list of North Korean companies published by the DPRK portal site Naenara.[4]

History

Zokwang Trading was founded in 1974 in Macau, then a colony of Portugal, soon after the new Portuguese government installed by the Carnation Revolution established diplomatic relations with North Korea.[5] North Korean government officials and other sources state that the company engages in legitimate business transactions, purchasing cigarettes, food, liquor, televisions, and luxury goods for shipment to Pyongyang. However, police long had suspicions about Zokwang's activities.[6]

Kim Hyon Hui, one of the agents who carried out the bombing of 1987 Korean Air Flight 858, stated in her autobiography Tears of my Soul that prior to the bombing, she and her partner Kim Sung-il had used Zokwang Trading's office as a base while living in Macau, learning Cantonese so that she and other North Korean agents could pose as Macau or Hong Kong locals.[7] In 1994, the United States government also made accusations that Zokwang Trading were engaged in arms sales and other illegal technology transfer.[5] Later that year, the Macau police raided Zokwang Trading, and discovered counterfeit United States currency in the amount of hundreds of dollars.[6] In 2005, Zokwang Trading's accounts with Macanese banks Banco Delta Asia and Seng Heng were closed at the request of US financial regulators; sometime the following year, they moved across the border to Zhuhai.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ Bermudez 2001, p. 55
  2. ↑ Kim, Ju-myeong (2005-12-20), "조광무역 마카오에서 철수, 중국으로 (Chogwang Trading Withdraws from Macao, Moves to China)", No Cut News, retrieved 2006-12-25
  3. ↑ "Kim Jong-il Restores Special Department to Swell Coffers", Chosun Ilbo, 2010-06-22, retrieved 2010-06-23
  4. ↑ Naenara: Foreign Trade-Corporations & Agencies, Democratic People's Republic of Korea: Korea Computer Center, 2005, archived from the original on 2005-09-20, retrieved 2006-12-25
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lintner, Bertil; Yoon, Suh-kyung (2001-10-25), "North Korea: Coming in from the Cold", Far Eastern Economic Review, retrieved 2006-12-25
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chinoy, Mike (1999-12-18), "Will China end North Korea's illegal activities in Macau?", CNN, retrieved 2011-09-14
  7. ↑ Kim, Pyong-il (1994-01-19), "Major Changes in DPRK Trading Firm in Macau", Korea Herald
  8. ↑ "北, BDA계좌동결 후 3개국서 계좌개설 (North opened accounts in at least three countries after BDA Account Freeze)", Yonhap News Agency, 2006-10-16, retrieved 2006-12-25

Bibliography