North Korean officials stash foreign currencies at home, defectors say
North Korean officials routinely stash large amounts of foreign currencies such as US dollars in their homes, say high-profile defectors
Two high-profile North Korean defectors working for South Korea's spy agency have revealed how regime officials routinely stashed huge sums of foreign currency in their homes.
Both men are analysts at the Institute for National Security Strategy, an affiliate of South Korea's National Intelligence Service.
They said Kim Jong-un, who took power after his father Kim Jong-il's death in December, appears to be trying to take control of various foreign-exchange schemes controlled by the party and army as he seeks to boost the nation's ailing economy.
In recent months Kim experimented with agricultural and economic reforms after he and his powerful uncle purged the Stalinist state's top general for opposing change.
One of the defectors, who did not want to be named, said that since the 1990s, high-level officials with links to economic bureaus have been hoarding foreign currencies - even as millions of people starved to death due to famine.
"Party officials have been keeping massive sums of dollars close to hand - US$500,000 to US$1 million in their homes," he said.
It is unclear whether the practise has continued since Kim took power and if his reforms include tackling high-level corruption.
