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Inside North Korea's SECRET Billionaire Paradise: Luxury, Crime & Dark Money EXPOSED!
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Jun 20, 2025
🚫 SHOCKING REVELATION: The untold story of North Korea's elite living in unimaginable luxury while their people starve. We expose how the regime funds its lavish lifestyle through a $1.5 BILLION cyber heist operation! 🏢 Bureau 39: The secret organization behind North Korea's global criminal empire 💰 EXPOSED: How the regime launders BILLIONS in blood money 🕵️ REVEALED: $9,500 Designer bags, supercars, and million-dollar horse collections 🖥️ NEW 2024-2025 Evidence: The biggest cryptocurrency heist in history ⚠️ DISTURBING: The dark truth behind Pyongyang's luxury paradise 🔔 Hit SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications to uncover more shocking truths about the world's most secretive regimes! Inside North Korea's SECRET Billionaire Paradise: Luxury, Crime & Dark Money EXPOSED! #NorthKorea #KimJongUn #Exposed #Investigation #DarkMoney #Cryptocurrency #Bureau39 #Pyongyang #SecretLife #Documentary --~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Like and subscribe will be greatly appreciated! 🙏 -~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~--~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Grow Your YouTube Channel Faster with vidIQ! Want to get more views, subscribers, and take your YouTube game to the next level? I personally use vidIQ to optimize my videos, find the best keywords, analyze trends, and crush the algorithm. Whether you’re just starting out or already growing fast, vidIQ gives you the tools, insights, and strategies you need to stand out.
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imagine a world where a Starbucks is just a dream Owning your own home is a
0:05
no-go and the internet as we know it Well for most folks it just doesn't
0:10
exist Now picture this In that same country a tiny tiny group sips $9
0:18
coffees cruises in luxury cars and flaunts designer bags that cost more
0:25
than an average person earns in a lifetime This isn't some sci-fi story
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This is North Korea and the champagne wishes and caviar dreams of its top 1%
0:38
They're paid for by a global criminal empire hiding in plain sight Welcome to
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the offlimits world of North Korea's ruling class A land of unbelievable
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luxury plopped right in the middle of widespread suffering We're pulling back
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the curtain to show you the rich lives of the Donju the masters of money and
1:01
the top officials living large thanks to the regime Their paradise a glittering illusion in
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Pyongyang is built on a foundation of shady illegal deals stretching across
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the globe So how is this elite playground bankrolled how in a country
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slammed by sanctions and poverty do a select few get to enjoy things forbidden
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to everyone else today we're going deep inside this secret elite paradise to
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find out how loyalty is bought how fortunes are made through state sponsored crime and how blood money
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keeps this extravagant lie going This is the story of a regime that acts less
1:46
like a government and more like a very sophisticated criminal organization
1:51
Section one the gilded cage of Pyongyang's chosen On the perfectly kept
1:57
streets of Pyongyang a city most of the world never gets to see There's another
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reality This is where North Korea's elite live A special slice of society
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maybe 1 to 2 million people For them life is worlds apart from the tough
2:15
times their fellow citizens face They live in the capital's swankiest neighborhoods Their kids go to the best
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schools and they own things like cars and multiple cell phones stuff that's
2:27
pure fantasy for the average North Korean Within this elite group a new
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class has popped up the doner or masters of money These folks rose from the dust
2:41
of economic reforms in the early 2000s making serious bank through semi-private
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businesses in manufacturing trade construction and services
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They're the new rich in a supposedly classless society figuring out how to
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work the system of state control and smart business moves The lifestyle of
3:04
these chosen few is by any standard pretty fancy Pyongyang has luxury gyms
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high-end restaurants and trendy coffee shops where one drink can set you back up to $9
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Think about that A university professor's official monthly salary might be around a measly 80
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The elite aren't shy about spending either For them buying expensive stuff
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is how they show off their status and power Department stores in Pyongyang
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somehow ignoring international sanctions openly sell brands like Chanel Rolex and
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Mlong Kim Jong-un himself and his inner circle pretty much define indulgence
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We hear stories of private palaces fleets of rare supercars and even
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billion-dollar horse breeding programs that sound almost made up Kim reportedly
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brought in $138 horses from Russia for nearly $600,000
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and keeps up exclusive golf courses that cost millions to build and hundreds of
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thousands a year to maintain His wife R Solju has been seen with Dior handbags
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and his powerful sister Kim Yo Jong was spotted with a Christian Dior purse
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apparently worth $900 on a trip to Russia This open display of wealth isn't
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just about personal enjoyment It's a calculated show of power and a key part
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of how the regime stays in control The message is crystal clear Stay loyal to
4:48
the Kim dynasty and you'll get a life beyond what ordinary citizens can even
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imagine But this gilded cage has invisible bars demanding total loyalty
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in return for all its shiny comforts Section two The price of paradise
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Loyalty forged in luxury In the tricky power games of North Korea loyalty isn't
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just expected It's carefully grown and richly rewarded The regime with Kim
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Jong-un in absolute charge knows that the solid support of its elite is key to
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its survival And what's a better way to lock down that loyalty than by strategically handing out wealth and
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perks this system often called gift politics is a huge part of Kim's rule
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The most loyal and influential members of the workers party military leaders and top government officials get
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showered with benefits that put them way above everyone else These aren't just
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vague advantages They're real touchable signs of their special status Luxury
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apartments in Pyongyang often shown off in state media as kind gifts from the
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leader are a classic example Take Ri Chunhi North Korea's most famous news
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anchor who was publicly given a fancy home by Kim Jong-un
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It's a powerful example of how this works These displays aren't just for the
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person getting the gift They're a message to all elites serve the regime
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well and you can get a piece of this pie too A South Korean government report
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estimated that Kim Jong-un spends up to a jaw-dropping $182 billion a year on
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perks for these elites a group of about 65,000 people This money covers luxury
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imports gifts and various benefits all aimed at keeping them devoted These
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rewards go beyond just houses Luxury cars often smuggled into the country
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despite international sanctions are frequently given to favored officials or
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those who've shown outstanding service especially in the military High-end
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Swiss watches like Omega and the latest electronic gadgets are common gifts at
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big events like celebrating Kim family birthdays or during important party
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meetings These aren't just little presents They're investments in loyalty
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tying the receivers even closer to the regime The Kim family and their
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relatives are thought to spend around 830 billion1 that's hundreds of millions of
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US dollars every year on luxury goods just for themselves In the first 8
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months of 2024 even with economic problems North Korea supposedly imported
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luxury goods worth nearly $52 million including cosmetics watches and alcohol
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mostly coming through China This system creates a strong mutual relationship
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The donjugi the masters of money while making their own fortunes often do it in
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ways that help or are at least tolerated by the state Sometimes this means paying
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informal taxes or bribes to officials essentially making them part of the
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regime's bigger economic and power games They're kind of like oligarchs who get
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that their continued success is linked to the stability and approval of the people in charge The elite in turn know
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that their access to this paradise completely depends on their unwavering loyalty to Kim Jong-un It's a give and
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take where fancy living is the currency of control making sure that those
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closest to power have a real reason to keep things as they are no matter how
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it's funded or what it costs everyone else Section 3 Bureau 39 the shadowy
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architects of affluence At the dark center of North Korea's illegal economy the engine pumping money
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into the elitees fancy lifestyle is a super secret organization Bureau 39 also
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called Office 39 or Room 39 This shadowy part of the Workers Party of Korea acts
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as the personal piggy bank for the Kim dynasty and its most loyal followers Its
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only job is to rake in huge amounts of foreign cash the lifeblood for the
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regime's survival and the guarantee of its elitees comfort often by any means
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necessary whether legal or more often illegal Bureau 39 isn't your average
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government office It's basically the headquarters of a state-run criminal syndicate It manages a huge network of
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operations designed to get around international sanctions and suck up hard
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cash from all over the world Its list of illegal activities is as varied as it is
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evil For decades Bureau 39 has been involved in making sophisticated fake
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foreign money especially highquality US dollars often called supernotes and
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Chinese yuan This isn't some amateur job It's a state-backed operation aimed at
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messing with foreign economies and directly funding the regime But the
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bureau's criminal playbook goes way beyond fake cash It's heavily into drug
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trafficking Making and selling drugs like methamphetamine Arms dealing is
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another big money maker with North Korea selling weapons to various countries and groups often in war zones totally
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ignoring international bans Reports say Bureau 39 even dabbles in wildlife
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trafficking dealing in things like ivory which just shows how far it'll go to get
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money Human trafficking smuggling and selling fake consumer goods and
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exploiting North Korean workers sent abroad whose wages are mostly taken by the state all add to the money
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controlled by this mysterious organization Recent US Treasury sanctions have
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pointed out people linked to office 39 and its banks like Korea Dong Bank for
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coordinating large money transfers from China to North Korea proving it's still
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very much in business More recently Bureau 39 has jumped into the digital
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world using cyber crime and cryptocurrency theft as major ways to
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get cash Its hackers especially the infamous Lazarus Group have become
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notorious for bold heists targeting banks and crypto exchanges worldwide
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supposedly stealing billions This shift to cyber operations shows Bureau 39 can
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adapt and is relentless in its hunt for foreign money using the anonymity and
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borderless nature of the internet The money made by Bureau 39 doesn't go to
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public services or national development in the usual sense Instead it's funneled
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straight to the Kim family and used to keep the party elite living in luxury by
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their loyalty and crucially fund the nation's sanctioned weapons programs
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Bureau 39 is the unseen hand that fills the champagne glasses in Pyongyang's
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exclusive clubs and puts designer clothes on the chosen few all while most
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people are isolated and poor Section four a global web of crime the illicit
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funding playbook The financial survival of North Korea's elite and really the regime itself
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depends on a smart and always changing playbook of illegal activities that go
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far beyond its borders Bureau 39 might be the brains but its operations are
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carried out through a global network built to exploit every loophole and weak
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spot it can find This isn't small-time stuff It's a state-run strategy of
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criminal sovereignty where the government itself is used to protect and
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help large-scale criminal operations Cyber crime has become a really powerful
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tool in North Korea's financial toolkit State-backed hacker groups like the
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notorious Lazarus Group and Advanced Persistent Threat APT
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38 have turned into serious cyber warfare and money-making units These
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groups are thought to be behind some of the boldest digital thefts ever For
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example the $81 million Bangladesh bank hack sent ripples through the global
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financial system and the massive $540 million theft from the Ronin network
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showed what they could do in the crypto world Experts think North Korea has
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trained a cyber force of over 8,000 hackers These hackers use all sorts of
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tricks from spear fishing emails aimed at crypto company employees to
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exploiting weaknesses in blockchain platforms Cryptocurrency is attractive
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because it lets the regime get around traditional banking systems making it much harder for international
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authorities to trace and grab the stolen money These digital assets are then
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secretly turned into hard cash It's estimated that cyber theft brings in as
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much as 50% of Pyongyang's foreign currency and is a main funding source
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for its weapons programs In 2022 alone North Korea reportedly stole over $630
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million in cryptocurrency and a UN estimate for 2024
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suggested they pulled in $1.34 billion
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One of the biggest alleged heists happened in February 2025
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with the Lazarus Group supposedly stealing 1.5 billion in Ethereum from
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the Bybit exchange Beyond the digital world North Korea's illegal activities
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are also deeply rooted in old school criminal businesses Making and
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trafficking drugs especially methamphetamine brings in a lot of money
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Counterfeiting operations keep pumping out highquality fake US dollars and
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other currencies which are then cleaned up and put into the global financial system The regime also profits from
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illegal arms sales supplying weapons to various buyers including non-state
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groups which fuels conflicts and instability while earning much needed cash Photos have even surfaced of North
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Korean-made F7 rocket propelled grenades supposedly used by Hamas against Israeli
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forces showing the realworld impact of this trade What's more exploiting its
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own citizens for foreign cash is a harsh reality Tens of thousands of North
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Korean IT workers and laborers are sent overseas especially to China Russia and
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Southeast Asia These people often work in terrible conditions with most of
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their earnings taken by the state These IT workers sometimes using fake
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identities get contracts with foreign companies making hundreds of millions of
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dollars a year for Pyongyang Recent reports suggest that about 10,000 North
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Korean programmers work illegally in these areas making between $250 million
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and $600 million each year South Korea has sanctioned individuals and groups
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involved in these schemes which are directly linked to funding the regime's nuclear and missile programs
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This global web of crime isn't just about funding luxury It's a critical lifeline that lets North Korea defy
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international sanctions push its military goals and keep up the fancy
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image of its elite paradise Section five laundering the blood money from heists
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to high life Getting huge amounts of illegal cash whether from cyber heists
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drug trafficking or weapons sales is only half the job for the North Korean
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regime The really important next step is to launder this blood money cleaning up its
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criminal past and moving it into legitimate looking financial channels to
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pay for the elitees luxuries and the state's priorities This whole process involves a
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complicated and often hidden network of front companies corrupt helpers and
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taking advantage of weaknesses in the global financial system Historically
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North Korea has used the gambling industry as a favorite way to launder
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money Casinos in Macau and across Southeast Asia have been pinpointed as
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key places where illegally obtained cash can be washed clean The regime has also
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reportedly used ethnic Korean networks in Japan especially those connected to
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the massive pachinko gambling industry worth around $200 billion to create ways
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to move and legitimize funds Now the methods have changed with the times
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stolen cryptocurrency while offering some anonymity at first still needs to
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be turned into usable cash or goods North Korean operatives use
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sophisticated tricks to hide where these digital assets came from This includes
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using mixers or tumblers that blend stolen crypto with other funds passing
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it through hundreds of different digital wallets and using decentralized exchanges to make the transaction trails
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even harder to follow Despite these efforts law enforcement agencies are
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getting better at tracing these movements For instance the US government was able to freeze and seize over $7.74
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million in cryptocurrency laundered by North Korean IT workers who used fake
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identities to get jobs and send their earnings back to the regime Companies
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like Huon Pay have been accused of moving large amounts of stolen cryptocurrency for North Korea though
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they deny it The regime also depends on a network of front companies and trusted
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middlemen spread across the globe These businesses often in industries with less
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strict oversight can be used to buy goods help with trade and move money A
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UN panel of experts found that front companies like Glocom based in Malaysia
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used wide networks of people companies and offshore bank accounts to get market
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and sell arms and related materials for North Korea effectively laundering the
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money made from it Even with thorough international sanctions meant to cut off
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North Korea's access to the global financial system and stop luxury goods from coming in the regime is
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surprisingly good at finding ways around them Corrupt officials in other
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countries weak enforcement in some places and sophisticated smuggling
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operations allow banned items from Mercedes Maybach limousines for Kim
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Jong-un to designer handbags for the elite to make their way into Pyongyang
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These goods are often sent through third countries with fake declarations and hidden shipping details
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North Korea's imports of luxury goods from China for example are still significant showing that sanctions are
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leaky when it comes to keeping the elite happy The secretary's office helping Kim
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Jong-un along with North Korean embassy officials and elites stationed in Europe
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and pro- North Korea countries reportedly act as channels to bring
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these luxury items directly into the country Even North Korean workers sent
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overseas play a part in getting and transporting these goods This complex
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system of laundering and buying ensures that the wealth made through Bureau 39's
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criminal activities can be easily turned into the real symbols of power and
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privilege that define the lives of North Korea's chosen few It's a constant game
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of cat and mouse with international authorities but one that for now keeps
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fueling the champagne lifestyles inside Pyongyang's secret paradise Section six
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the stark divide Paradise built on a people's pain
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The shiny front of Pyongyang's elite paradise with its luxury shops fancy
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restaurants and chauffeurred cars is a horrifying contrast to the grim reality
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for most of North Korea's 26 million people This isn't just a gap between
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rich and poor It's a massive canyon a state in forced separation where the
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fancy living of the few is directly paid for by the hardship and suffering of the
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many The blood money that funds the Kim family's splurges and the Donju's
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comforts is squeezed from a system built on oppression forced labor and the
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routine denial of basic human rights While the elite sip imported coffee and
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show off Chanel ordinary North Koreans struggle with constant food shortages
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Aid workers consistently report terrible shortages of food and medicine in the countryside The United Nations has
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repeatedly warned about extreme hunger and the lack of basic necessities
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The amount Kim Jong-un's family and relatives spend on luxury goods each year estimated at around 830 billion1
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is only slightly less than the 858 billion1 it would reportedly cost the
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regime to cover its annual grain shortage of 1.1 million tons
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This one statistic shows clearly what the regime cares about The indulgence of
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its leaders over the survival of its people Access to health care a basic
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right is a luxury in North Korea Pyongyangs maternity hospital might have
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modern X-ray and scanning equipment shown off as gifts from the great
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general but this is rare For most even basic medicines like aspirin are hard to
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find or too expensive leading to a cruel market for fake drugs The regime's focus
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on funding its nuclear weapons and elite lifestyles takes away resources that
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could ease widespread suffering The very things that show status among the elite
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foreign brands advanced electronics even something as simple as genes or Wi-Fi
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access are forbidden or completely out of reach for ordinary citizens The
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internet is heavily watched and limited to a tiny privileged few making sure the
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population stays cut off from outside information that might challenge the state's story Even personal style like
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wearing blue jeans can be seen as too foreign and therefore banned Women often
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have to make their own sanitary napkins from cotton rags because store-bought ones are too expensive
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The irony is that some of the very money used to keep up this unequal system
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comes from exploiting the labor of North Koreans sent abroad These workers toil
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in harsh conditions their wages mostly taken by the state to fund the very
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regime that denies them basic freedoms and a decent life This is a cycle of
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exploitation where the people are both the victims and without knowing it the
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funders of their own oppression The secret elite paradise is therefore built
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not just on crime but on a foundation of profound human cost It is a world where
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the laughter of the privileged in Pyongyang's exclusive areas echoes
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against a backdrop of silent suffering across the nation The champagne bubbles
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in their glasses reflect a twisted reality one that the regime desperately
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tries to maintain Even as the built-in injustice of this stark divide becomes
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harder to hide from the world and perhaps one day from its own people the
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loyalty bought with blood money comes at a huge price paid by millions who will
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never see the inside of this forbidden paradise The shadows of North Korea hide
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many truths What you've heard today is just a peak into one of its darkest
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corners a world of illegal wealth and shocking inequality
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If this look inside Pyongyang's secret elite paradise opened your eyes please
27:49
think about liking this video and subscribing to our channel for more deep explorations into hidden worlds and
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complex issues We also want to hear from you What part of this story shocked you
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the most do you think a system built on crime and such massive unfairness can
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actually last share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below
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Talking about these things helps bring more awareness to these critical topics And finally if you know someone who'd be
28:22
interested in understanding the hidden workings of regimes like North Korea
28:28
please share this video with them Spreading knowledge is a powerful thing
28:33
Thanks for watching The story of Pyongyangs elite paradise is a chilling
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picture put together with threads of luxury loyalty and lawlessness It shows
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how a regime backed into a corner by international sanctions and strict ideology can turn itself into what's
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essentially a criminal organization Mastering the arts of deception and
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illegal business to keep itself alive and its chosen few living in style The
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Donju and high-ranking officials who enjoy this champagne lifestyle surrounded by forbidden goods and
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western luxuries are both benefiting from and trapped by this system Their
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loyalty bought with the profits from global cyber heists drug trafficking
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counterfeiting and the exploitation of their own people is the glue holding
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this shaky structure together Bureau 39 the regime's how secret financial engine
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runs these operations with scary efficiency making sure a constant flow
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of blood money goes into the Kim dynasty's pockets This allows them to
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buy everything from supercars and designer watches to the very weapons that threaten regional and global
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stability Yet this secret world of indulgence is like an island in a sea of
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hardship a stark reminder of the human cost of keeping such a system going The
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huge difference between the elitees access to everything and the common citizens access to almost nothing paints
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a grim picture of a society built on an unsustainable and deeply wrong idea How
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long can this paradise funded by crime and held up by fear really last as
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information slowly trickles through even the tightest censorship And as the world
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keeps trying to deal with the challenge posed by North Korea's illegal activities the foundations of this
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secret world may face pressures they've never seen before But for now deep
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inside Pyongyang the party goes on for the 1% A lavish illusion built on a
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mountain of secrets and kept alive by a global criminal empire
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