A high official who used to work in a division of the 39th Department of the Chosun Workers Party was fired on suspicion of corruption, according to the Mainichi Newspaper.

The Mainichi, quoting an inside source, reported on the 8th that “The chief of Daesung General Bureau, a division of the 39th Department which manages foreign transactions, embezzled 1.4 million dollars last fall.”

The fund seemed to be the money released from Banco Delta Asia by the U.S. in the course of the Six Party Talks, according to an analysis of the newspaper.

The newspaper quoted an affiliate of Daesung General Bureau as saying that “The chief embezzled the Daesung General Bureau’s activities fund along with the benefits from foreign branches.”

The chief embezzled the foreign funds while he managed the 39th Department’s fund that had been put in BDA. His embezzlement was exposed by the authorities because he frequently sent his wife to Macau in order to manage the fund.

The 39th Department was founded in 1974 and has been filling the role of earning foreign currency as a core power department belonging directly to Kim Jong Il. Daesung General Bureau, Nakwon General Bureau, Booheung Trading Company and other foreign currency earning companies are under its control.