Chosun Workers’ Party ‘Department No. 38’ has been disbanded, according to a report carried by Japan’s Kyodo News.
The department was used to gather funds through foreign currency earning units that were then used as slush funds in the operation of the patronage network that buttressed Kim Jong Il’s power.
According to the Kyodo report, some of the overseas businesses run by Department No. 38 have been transferred to the control of the ‘Moranbong Guidance Bureau’, which it claims is under direct Cabinet authority.
The report adds that the move is part of efforts to rationalize North Korea’s trade and development organizational structure and strengthen the status of the Cabinet in reviving the economy and improving living conditions.
It also asserts that ‘Department No. 39,’ which engaged in illegal trade in weapons and drugs on the behalf of the Kim regime, has been disbanded.
