Secret partner: North Korean in Thailand behind network of money-making entities
Nam Chol Ung smuggled North Korean counterfeit tobacco through Southeast Asia and ran popular “Korean” restaurant
An NK Pro investigation has uncovered a network of Thai companies linked to a North Korean businessman, who was operating out of Bangkok and Pattaya with the help of Chinese and Thai partners.
Previously a director for NCU Industries, Nam Chol Ung — sometimes spelled Nam Cho Hung, or a variation of the two — no longer appears in the Thai business registry.
But investigation by NK Pro into Nam’s business interests reveal a well-hidden, sprawling logistics outpost in Thailand that Pyongyang would likely hate to lose.
Nam, NK Pro can reveal, served as