North Korea’s illegal arms trade is among those caught on film by Danish chef and father Ulrich Larsen. Larsen spied on North Korea’s trade for over ten years and his recordings will be shown in the documentary Mole – undercover in North Korea.
Pretending to be a businessman and criminal, Larsen began spying on North Korea as a member of the Danish North Korean Friendship Association. Through his membership in the alliance, he rose to prominence within it and eventually became chairman of the North Korean International Friendship Association, KFA, in Scandinavia and befriended high-ranking arms manufacturers in North Korea.
Larsen soon befriended the KFA board member, the Spaniard Alejandro Cao de Benós, who according to Swedish state radio news, strong ties in North Korea. Cao de Benós urged Larsen to get in touch with customers willing to invest in North Korea, despite an international trade embargo.
They were planning to build a weapons factory in Uganda
With the help of former Danish criminal James, who pretended to be a businessman in search of investment opportunities, the family of the documentary managed to get around an island in Uganda, where they said they were going to build a weapons factory based on the North Korean model. They were to get the materials and workers from North Korea to work in the factory.
Drawings of the weapons factory that was to be built on an island in Uganda.screenshot / Mole – undercover in North-Korea
Larsen received the drawings at the North Korean Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Larsen’s meetings with the North Koreans were all recorded, either with hidden cameras or the North Koreans knowingly. Larsen pretended to be filming a documentary for KFA. On a number of recordings, North Koreans can be heard talking about how to avoid international trade sanctions.
At one of Larsen’s meetings in North Korea, a recording shows that he and his entourage were shown a price list of the various weapons that could be purchased. The most expensive were Soviet missiles, which cost up to 5.5 million US dollars, or about 762 million ISK each.
The Danish spies also made an agreement with a Jordanian customer who wanted to sell oil to North Korea. The agreement was made with the involvement of North Korean representatives.
