North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent a personal congratulatory message to operatives conducting secret missions overseas for the Sept. 9 holiday marking the foundation of the North Korean state.
“A congratulatory message for Day of the Foundation of the Republic in Kim Jong Un’s name was prepared by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the Ministry of Defense and the Military-Government Guidance Department and sent to agency headquarters and operatives carrying out special missions worldwide at midnight Sept. 8,” a high-ranking source in North Korea said recently.
A military source confirmed that the message “was sent to overseas branches through Pyongyang headquarters” and that gift boxes containing “high-end gift sets” were delivered to families of operatives who have been serving abroad for extended periods.
The operatives who received the message work for state agencies like the Reconnaissance General Bureau and the Ministry of Defense on various overseas missions including delivering cash to the regime, generating foreign currency, money laundering, cyber hacking and intelligence gathering. They often pose as exchange students, cultural workers, traders or business people.
Kim praises agents as “patriots” and “hidden heroes”
In the message, Kim praised the operatives and wished them good health, calling them “patriots, hidden heroes and the party’s true warriors who fought on unseen front lines” for leaving their families to “faithfully carry out the state’s missions far away.”
The North Korean government is essentially justifying and praising activities that the international community has labeled as illegal money laundering and hacking operations.
The move is related to recent efforts to honor North Korean troops killed in the Russia-Ukraine war. North Korea handed out state commendations to fallen soldiers twice last month, sparking discontent among overseas operatives who learned about it. When their superiors discovered this dissatisfaction, they reported it directly to Kim, resulting in the congratulatory message.
Within North Korea, the measure is mostly seen as aimed at appeasing overseas operatives and reconfirming their loyalty rather than a genuine favor from Kim. In other words, it was an effort to calm those who felt relatively excluded and upset by the state’s large-scale efforts to honor troops fighting in Ukraine.
“There was concern that loyalty could weaken if not only the personnel sent overseas, but also their families at home weren’t properly cared for,” the military source said. “The congratulatory message and gift sets for families were coordinated by each agency simultaneously.”
The sudden message and family gifts on a state holiday—despite it not being a symbolically important anniversary ending in five or zero—is seen as an extraordinary measure demonstrating the regime’s urgency in managing overseas operatives and preventing ideological unrest.
“Amid continued international sanctions, operatives on special missions overseas are essentially a lifeline for the state,” the high-ranking source said. “Keeping them happy and ensuring their loyalty is more important than anything, which is why this special encouragement was sent.”
