Attachment to Dispatch no. 6/8 dated 25.11.76 from the Embassy in Helsinki

Attachment to dispatch no. 6/8 dated 25.11.76 from the Embassy in Helsinki.

UUSI SUOMI (independent, liberal-conservative), article 25.11.76

Secrets regarding the North Korean drug scandal made public

Defector diplomats in contact with the CIA

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Stockholm (Thord Åkerlund). Recently available information has shed new light on the North Korean diplomats’ smuggling enterprise. On the 11^th of March this year, a North Korean serviceman disappeared from the North Korean Embassy in Helsinki. Together with a close associate who was a Stockholm resident, they sought political asylum at the Foreign Ministry in Helsinki.

The Helsinki Foreign Ministry declined their request, and advised they instead contacted the United States Embassy.

The North Korean diplomats had been redirected to serve at the Embassy in Moscow, a directive they refused to accept.

The North Koreans contacted the United States Embassy in Helsinki. The Embassy received the diplomats, and arranged prompt transport to West Germany. The diplomats were later put in contact with the American intelligence agency CIA. The diplomats subsequently disclosed the details of the smuggling and sales of narcotics, alcohol, and tobacco.

The CIA informed the Danish police security service about the objectives the North Korean diplomats had been given. The diplomats were first surveilled in Denmark, and when enough information had been collected, the other Nordic countries were notified. At this stage, the police authorities of the Nordic countries were focused on the activities in Copenhagen. Further evidence was collected, and the police in the other Nordic countries eventually took action.

In Sweden, a clearer picture emerged after looking into the Embassy’s expenditures from the smuggling money. The North Korean Embassy in Sweden had paid trips to North Korea for 11 Swedish politicians, who visited the country for two weeks. In the delegation were representatives from the Social Democrats, Centre Party and one communist politician. All travel expenses could be traced to the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm.

The Swedish politicians founded a “Committee for a Peaceful Reunification of the Korean States”. The Swedes travelled to North Korea in June and stayed for two weeks.