A defecting North Korean diplomat has said that North Korea until recently earned “tens of millions of dollars” every year through insurance fraud.

Thae Yong-ho, who defected from Pyongyany’s embassy in London, said North Korea’s insurance scams have been going on for 30 years, according to a UPI report. North Korea allegedly began scamming the London international insurance market when founder Kim Il Sung was still head of the country and his son Kim Jong Il was his second in command.

“In North Korea, there is only one state-owned insurance company, so that even if it fabricates an accident, there is no way to verify its claims,” Thae told South Korean news outlet Yonhap. “After purchasing international insurance or reinsurance for state infrastructure, documents are forged (for phony claims), which earns the state tens of millions of dollars a year.”

However, economic sanctions against North Korea implemented by Britain and the EU cut off that revenue stream in May, according to UPI.


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