North Korea: Sweden and Denmark want to seize the UN after shocking documentary
(Illustration) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during an inspection visit to a site rehabilitated following a typhoon, in South Hanyong province, October 14, 2020. KCNA VIA KNS / AFP
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4 min
Sweden and Denmark announced Monday to seize the United Nations of the revelations of a Danish documentary broadcast this Sunday, October 11.
La Taupe is the result of an incredible infiltration of North Korean networks by an ex-cook and an actor, for nearly a decade.
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In a statement, the Danish and Swedish foreign ministers say they are "
deeply concerned about the content of the documentary
The Mole,
which concerns activities related to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
.
In response to these concerns, we have decided to instruct our missions to the United Nations to draw the attention of the UN sanctions committee to this documentary.
We will also be raising this issue within the EU,
”Jeppe Kofod and Ann Linde wrote in a joint statement.
The documentary, broadcast by the BBC and Nordic televisions this Sunday, stems from the role played, for nearly a decade, by a former Danish cook on a disability pension, determined to prove that Pyongyang circumvents international sanctions.
After founding a Danish branch of the Korea Friendship Association (KFA), a pro-Pyongyang organization, he won the trust of its Spanish leader, Alejandro Cao de Benos.
A staunch communist, Cao de Benos is known in Spain for defending Pyongyang steadfastly, despite human rights violations and nuclear tests.
Playing his role as a liege of the North Korean regime, the former Danish cook ends up going up, with the help of the documentary director Mads Brügger and an actor playing the role of a wealthy businessman without scruple, a mission to offer the North Korean authorities lucrative investments linked to armaments or drug trafficking.
Ugandan arms contract
The improbable mission in Pyongyang notably resulted in the signing of a real-fake contract to build an underground weapons factory on an island in Uganda, via a triangular deal involving the sale of oil by a Jordanian businessman.
The documentary is shot partly with a hidden camera but also thanks to what the ex-cook presents as future propaganda videos for North Korea and the KFA.
It also shows the North Korean ambassador in Stockholm appearing to approve the arms factory project, a passage that the Swedish Foreign Ministry said it "
took seriously
" on Sunday.
"
Highly credible
"
revelations
The performance of
The Mole
amazed Western experts on the North Korean regime, surprised both by the success of the subterfuge and the insane risks taken by the duo, ex-chef Ulrich Larsen and actor Jim Latrache-Qvortrup, a former French Foreign Legion who served in prison in Denmark.
For Hugh Griffiths, former coordinator of the UN panel of experts on North Korea from 2014 to 2019, the revelations of this documentary are "
highly credible
".
"
This film is the most severe source of embarrassment for President Kim Jong-un that we have ever seen," he
told
the BBC
.
The apparent amateurism of this affair does not remove the intention to sell and earn money in foreign currency.
The elements provided by this film correspond to what we already know.
"
"
The information we have is overwhelming,
"
Madds Brügger confirmed on Tuesday
.
I would like to meet with the members of the expert panel on North Korea to discuss what may interest them.
If the film can help in any way slow North Korea's resolve to break sanctions and spread its weapons around the world, I'd be very happy.
"
►
See also: North Korea unveils a giant intercontinental missile during a parade
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