‘Mole’: a documentary that reveals how North Korea ‘smuggled weapons’

Viewers will learn how North Korea seeks to circumvent international sanctions after watching the new documentary, in which members of the secret government Kim Jong-un are trapped in signing. bogus arms trade deals.

The film’s appearances include an unemployed Danish chef who is in love with the stories of communist dictators; a Spanish aristocrat who zealously fanned out across North Korea and often preferred to wear military uniforms; and a former French mercenary, as well as a convicted drug dealer, disguised a mysterious man during the investigation.

But can all this be true or not? A former UN official told the BBC that he found the film “very credible.”

The Mole is the product of Danish film producer Mads Brügger. He said he organized a very elaborate, three-year hoax campaign to find out how North Korea managed to outperform the international community.

Unemployed chef Ulrich Larsen, with the help of Brügger, infiltrates the Korean Friendship Association (KFA), a pro-Pyongyang group based in Spain.

Larsen rose to high positions, eventually winning the favor and seemingly trustworthiness of North Korean government officials.

As a member of the KFA, Larsen got in touch with the organization’s ostentatious founder and president, Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spanish aristocrat known worldwide as “The Guardian of North Korea.”

In the film, for which he sometimes appears in a North Korean uniform, Cao de Benós brags about his approach and influence over the Pyongyang government.

Another face is Jim Latrache-Qvortrup, described as a former French mercenary and convicted drug lord. Latrache-Qvortrup presents himself as an international arms dealer, often appearing in flashy suits.

Connecting these people was Brügger himself, who called himself “the puppet operator.”

He said he spent 10 years preparing Mole, the documentary that is now a joint product of the BBC and Scandinavian media.

Funny movie, weird. “I am a filmmaker who likes to create drama,” Brügger said in the film.

But Hugh Griffiths, co-coordinator of the United Nations Committee of Experts on North Korea for 2014-2019, said the film’s revelations were “very credible.”

“This documentary is the most serious loss of face for President Kim Jong-un that we have ever seen,” Griffiths said. “The fact that the film seems amateur does not mean that there is no sale of arms in exchange for foreign currency. The content of the film is very similar to what we already know.”

North Korea has been sanctioned by the United Nations since 2006 because of its nuclear ambitions. The country’s development and testing of nuclear weapons have been noted in the UN Commission’s regular reports since 2010.

However, seeing North Korean officials discuss how to circumvent sanctions to export weapons, as the images show, is unprecedented.

At a crucial moment in the film, Ulrich Larsen, former chef and ‘Mole’, filmed the scene of Jim Latrache-Qvortrup, or “Mr. James,” the arms dealer, signing a contract with a factory representative. arms production in North Korea in the presence of government officials. The signing takes place in a luxurious basement on the outskirts of Pyongyang.

Not everything about North Korea that appears in the film is clearly defined. Laughing at this, Latrache-Qvortrup said he had to make up the company name when asked by one of the North Korean officials.

It was surprising that the team hadn’t thought of such basic details beforehand, just because no one thought that actual North Korean officials would allow filming during such a meeting, allow for progress. hiring practice like that.

The signed contract was signed by Kim Ryong-chol, president of the Narae Trade Organization. Narae is a common name on the Korean peninsula, but the latest report from the UN North Korean Committee of Experts, dated August 28, 2020, states that a company is called Narae Korea Trading Company. North Korea “engages in activities that violate sanctions, to generate income for the prohibited activities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”

Griffiths, a former UN official, said it showed that North Koreans present at the meeting seemed more willing to do business with an unknown businessman.

“It shows that the UN sanctions are working. The North Koreans clearly desperately need to sell weapons,” he said.

At one point during a meeting in Kampala in 2017, “Mr. Danny” (described as a “North Korean arms dealer”) asked Latrache-Qvortrup if he could send North Korean weapons to Syria. This question shows that North Korea is finding it increasingly difficult to ship products on its own, Griffiths said.

“Mr. James” in Uganda, accompanied by some of the North Korean officials who had appeared in Pyongyang, negotiated the purchase of an island in Lake Victoria.

Ugandan officials were told the island would be used to build a luxury resort, but James and those North Koreans secretly planned to build an underground factory to produce dance. gas and drugs.

Once again, the content may seem like a myth, but North Korea has been doing such disguised construction; they built a munitions factory in an abandoned copper mine in Leopard Valley, Namibia. On the surface, these places are used to make statues and monuments.

The activities of the Korea Mining Development Trading Company (Komid) were investigated by the United Nations Committee of Experts between 2015 and 2018.

The UN pressure on Namibia may explain why the North Koreans in the film initially mentioned continuing construction there, but later wanted to move to Uganda, Griffiths said.

“North Korean projects in Namibia were practically closed,” said the former UN official. “As of 2018, Uganda is one of the few African countries … where North Korean arms dealers are still accessible.”

Another aspect of the film that has caught the attention of international observers is that North Korean diplomats in embassies abroad appear to be clearly linked to direct facilitation. sue for attempts to violate UN sanctions.

In one scene, Ulrich Larsen visits the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm, where he receives an envelope of project plans in Uganda from a diplomat named Mr. Ri.

Like many other key scenes in this documentary, the meeting was secretly filmed by Larsen. When Larsen left, Mr. Ri warned him to be discreet.

“If something happens, the Embassy doesn’t know anything about it, remember?” Said Mr. Ri.

According to Griffiths, the scene “was in tune with the way they played it.”

“Most of the UN commission investigation into sanctions violation found that North Korean diplomatic buildings or North Korean passport holders were involved in actual violations or conspiracy violation,” he said.

None of the agreements mentioned in the film would materialize. Finally, when the partners started asking for money, Brügger let “Mr. James” disappear. The filmmakers said their evidence had been sent to the North Korean embassy in Stockholm, but they have yet to receive a response.

Cao de Benós, founder of KFA, said it was “immersive” and that the film was about “skewing, storytelling and using fabricated tricks.”