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Secret North Korea Nuclear Ballistic Missiles Base Uncovered-Can Strike US
Australia Detains Alleged Key Player in North Korean Tobacco Smuggling Scheme After US Request
Exclusive: Jin Guanghua was arrested by the AFP in Melbourne last year and is facing extradition to the US
The Guardian 20 FEB 2024
Chinese national Jin Guanghua was arrested by the AFP last March after US authorities accused him of involvement in an alleged tobacco-smuggling conspiracy that generated an estimated A$1.1bn (US$700m) in revenue to North Korea.
A Chinese national has been quietly arrested and detained in Australia for 11 months at the request of US authorities investigating an alleged tobacco smuggling conspiracy that generated an estimated A$1.1bn (US$700m) in revenue to North Korea.
Jin Guanghua, 52, was arrested by the Australian federal police in Melbourne last March. Described in US court documents as an Australian resident, Jin was kept in custody in Melbourne for several months before being transferred to immigration detention while awaiting extradition.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges Jin and others conspired for about a decade to supply tobacco to North Korea, which allowed the country to manufacture counterfeit cigarettes that helped fund its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.
According to documents filed in a US federal court in Washington DC, it is alleged bank accounts linked to front companies run by Jin and a co-conspirator were involved in more than $128m (US$84m) in transfers as part of the scheme.
The tobacco they helped smuggle generated an estimated $1.1bn (US$700m) in revenue for two companies owned by the North Korean military and government, the FBI has alleged.
“The co-conspirators used false shipping records to smuggle tobacco and other goods into North Korea, and front companies to launder related US dollar payments for these shipments,” the FBI claims in a criminal complaint against Jin.
“In so doing, the co-conspirators deceived correspondent banks in the United States, who would not have otherwise processed these transactions had they known about the nexus to North Korea.”
Jin is set to be charged with 12 offences, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, offences relating to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and the laundering or conspiracy to launder “of monetary instruments”.
The charges relate to allegations Jin’s companies knowingly used the US financial system to bypass international sanctions and provide tobacco and other goods, including a Russian helicopter, to North Korea.
Victorian magistrates court records show that Jin was arrested and taken into custody by the AFP under a US extradition warrant in March last year.
He faced the Melbourne magistrates court on several occasions, with his final appearance in August, the records show.
The Australian Attorney General’s Department confirmed Jin had been arrested in response to a provisional request made by the US and remained in detention “pursuant to the United States of America’s request for his extradition to face criminal charges in the United States”.
“The time taken to resolve an extradition request can vary from a few months to a number of years, depending on the complexity of the matter and whether the person chooses to contest extradition and exercise all rights of appeal,” a department spokesperson said.
“The individual is wanted to face prosecution in the United States for a number of sanctions, bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy offences.
“As the extradition matter is ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
If found guilty and convicted in the US, Jin is facing decades in prison, fines worth millions of dollars, and the forfeiture of property.
The FBI alleged Jin and his co-conspirators were able to operate the scheme by using a series of front companies registered in the UK, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates and China.
The alleged co-conspirators include Chinese nationals Han Linlin, 42, and Qin Guoming, 50, who are both wanted by the FBI and are believed by the bureau to have “ties to or may visit Australia”.
There are $764,610 (US$500,000) rewards available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of either man.
A separate $7.65m (US$5m) reward is also offered for the arrest of a North Korean banker, Sim Hyon-Sop, whom the FBI alleges was involved in the scheme.
“These charges arise from an illicit scheme by … North Korea, through its state-owned companies, to generate revenue for North Korea and its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation programs, through the purchase and sale of tobacco and other products,” the FBI alleges in its indictment.
“The entities were a group of companies run by Chinese nationals, defendants JIN … QIN … and HAN. These defendants founded at least eight companies in Dubai using variations of the same business name [Winney] to act as middlemen and facilitators for North Korean entities.”
It alleged the tobacco purchases were for the benefit of companies “owned by the North Korean military and government” to produce “counterfeit cigarettes” and other products.
While the FBI documents outline sweeping details about the allegations against Jin, including conversations with undercover operatives and details about procuring a $648,360 (US$424,000) helicopter from Khabarovsk for North Korean customers using a Zimbabwean company, little is known about his time in Australia.
Company and property records show that he was the founding director of an Australian company, Solomon Australia Pty Ltd, that was registered in 2021, and that he listed his address on company documents as a $5m house in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
Property records for that house show it was owned by another man, who did not respond to a request for comment. The man is an accountant whose website says he provides “compliance work” for Chinese investors in Australia, including in property.
US court documents do not name the companies from which Jin and others were alleged to have sourced tobacco and there is no suggestion Solomon Australia Pty Ltd is involved in any wrongdoing.
The indictment in the case was released in April 2023, on the same day as it was announced that British American Tobacco and a subsidiary had agreed to pay combined penalties of almost $963m (US$630m) to resolve bank fraud and sanctions violation charges relating to doing business in North Korea.
It is unclear if the two cases are related.
RELATED:
A convicted gambling tycoon, a Hong Kong gold trader, and a racing car driver from Macau: the FT and think-tank Rusi reveal some of the individuals behind a network connecting Chinese criminal groups to North Korean oil procurement and intelligence operations which help to sustain the countrys' military and nuclear weapons programme
British American Tobacco (BAT) to pay $635.2m to US authorities over sanctions breaches related to the sale of tobacco products to North Korea.
British American Tobacco to Pay $635MIL Over North Korea Sanctions Breaches
North Korean Troops Cross Into South-S.Korea Fires Warning Shots in Latest Escalation
North Korean Troops Cross Into South
South Korea Fires Warning Shots as North Korean Troops Cross Border
AP 12 JUN 2024
Shots fired as Kim Jong-un's troops cross into South Korea in latest escalation
A South Korean soldier standing guard over Korea's demilitarised zone
The worrying incursion over the line that separates the two militaries took place in an overgrown area of the heavily fortified border area, with South Korean troops forced to fire warning shots
The rivals are embroiled in Cold War-style campaigns, including balloon launches and propaganda broadcasts. Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas' heavily fortified border region, which is known as the Demilitarized Zone.
Though the incident happened during a particularly tense spell of heightened tensions between the neighbouring foes, it's unlikely that it will lead to full fighting. Seoul believes its enemy didn't deliberately commit the border incursion and the northern soldiers didn't return fire.
In a statement, South Korea's military said the North Korean soldiers, who were working on their side of the border, crossed the military demarcation line at around 12.30pm.
Those soldiers were carrying construction tools and some of them were armed. They immediately returned to the safety of their territory after southern soldiers fired fired warnings shots and issued warning broadcasts. The chiefs said North Korea had not conducted any other suspicious activities.
South Korea's military has assessed that the North Korean soldiers didn't appear to have intentionally crossed the border because the site is a wooded area and MDL signs there weren't clearly visible, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon told reporters.
Lee gave no further details. But South Korean media reports said that about 20-30 North Korean soldiers had entered South Korean territory about 50 meters (165 feet) after they likely lost their way. The reports said most of the North Korean soldiers were carrying pickaxes and other construction tools.
The 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is the world's most heavily armed border. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. It's a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
On Sunday, South Korea resumed anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts from its border loudspeakers in response to the North's recent launches of balloons carrying manure and rubbish across the border. South Korea said North Korea has installed its own border loudspeakers in response but hasn't turned them on yet.
North Korea has said its balloon campaign was in response to South Korean activists' launches of their own balloons to drop propaganda leaflets critical of leader Kim Jong Un's authoritarian rule, USB sticks with K-pop songs and South Korean drama shows, and other items in North Korea.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of its political system as most of its 26 million people have no official access to foreign news. On Sunday night, Kim's sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, warned of "a new response" if South Korea continued its loudspeaker broadcasts and refused to stop civilian leafletting campaigns.
The tit-for-tat over speakers and balloons - both Cold War-style psychological warfare - have deepened tensions between the Koreas as talks over the North's nuclear ambitions have remained stalled for years.
North Korea on Brink of WAR -Kim Blows Up Roads as Tensions With South Increase
North Korea on Brink of WAR as Kim Jong-un Blows Up Roads to Border With South - 1.4 Million Apply to Join Army Amid Tensions With South
The move follows a recent exchange between the North and South Korea in which Kim Jong-un's regime accused its southern counterparts of launching drones over its territory
MailOnline 17 OCT 2024
Kim Jong-un has demolished sections of road that cross between North Korea and its southern neighbours, South Korea has claimed, following a heated exchange between the two nations.
South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff have also reported that South Koreas military fired within southern sections of the border in response to the explosions.
The details of the firing were not disclosed, but it could have been an attempt to prevent cross-border fire by North Korea, reports the Mirror US.
It remains unclear whether North Korea has responded. South Koreas military has stated that it is enhancing its readiness and surveillance stance in collaboration with the United States.
Footage released by South Koreas military displayed a billowing cloud of white and grey smoke from an explosion at a road near Kaesong, a border town, with North Korea sending in trucks and excavators to remove the rubble.
The demolition of these roads is invocative of past orchestrated spectacles by North Korea, where infrastructure on its turf has been destroyed as a political signal. This comes after a heated exchange of threats between the two nations, following North Koreas allegations that South Korea flew drones over its capital.
The destruction of the roads is seen as a demonstration of North Koreas increasing disdain for South Koreas conservative government. Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, has pledged to cut ties with South Korea and abandon the pursuit of peaceful Korean unification.
This directive shocked many observers outside of North Korea, appearing to diverge from the long-held ambitions of Kim's forebears to unite the Korean Peninsula under Northern dominance. Experts believe that Kim Jong Un's goal is to reduce South Korea's influence in the regional nuclear standoff and seek direct negotiations with the US.
They also suggest that Kim aims to curb South Korean cultural sway and strengthen his domestic rule. North Korea has accused South Korea of using drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month, threatening forceful retaliation if it happens again.
North Koreas CHILLING Warning to US Just Weeks Before TRUMP Takes Office
North Koreas CHILLING Warning to US Just Weeks Before TRUMP Takes Office
Kim Jong Un HATES Trump and has said that he will put in place the toughest anti-US policy for North Korea ahead of the return to the White House by Donald Trump in January
AP 3 JAN 2025
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to implement the toughest anti-US policy as Donald Trump prepares for his second term as president.
Trumps return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, he met Kim three times for talks on the Norths nuclear programme.
But many experts say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump will first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. North Koreas support for Russias war against Ukraine also poses a challenge to efforts to revive diplomacy, experts say.
During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party that ended on Friday, Kim called the US the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy, the countrys state media reported. Kim said the US-South Korea-Japan security partnership is expanding into a nuclear military bloc for aggression
This reality clearly shows to which direction we should advance and what we should do and how, he said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. It said his speech clarified the strategy for the toughest anti-US counteraction to be launched aggressively by North Korea for its long-term national interests and security.
KCNA did not elaborate on the anti-US strategy, but it said Kim set out tasks to bolster military capability through defence technology advancements and stressed the need to improve the mental toughness of North Korean soldiers.
Trump once famously said he and Kim fell in love, but their talks collapsed, as they wrangled over US-led sanctions on the North. North Korea has since sharply increased the pace of its weapons testing activities to build more reliable nuclear missiles targeting the US and its allies.
__________________ 6000 PLUS Cases-He's LOST ALL Heard So Far: TRUMPs Onslaught of Lawyers are 'Hitting a Wall' -Judges & Cases Lining Up Against TRUMP
France To Ask For Statue of Liberty Back -No Longer Fits 'Freedom' Under TRUMP.. AND Starmers REVOLTING Betrayal of Britain Will NEVER Be Forgiven
TRUMPs' REVENGE -Clear & Present Danger -People Who Worship at The Altar of Trump Will KNEEL, NOT STAND Up to Him
Secret North Korea Nuclear Ballistic Missiles Base Uncovered-Can Strike US
Secret North Korea Base Uncovered Which Can Strike US With Nuclear Ballistic Missiles
A study by a North Korean watchdog has found a new military base tucked away on the Chinese border could launch a missile to hit the United States
MailOnline 22 AUG 2025
Kim Jong-un recently called for an expansion of North Koreas nuclear program
A secret military base has popped up on North Koreas border with China which could harbour its world ending ballistic missiles.
The base, which is in North Pyongan Province, is 17 miles from the Chinese border. The existence of the structure was exposed by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in a paper published on Wednesday.
Its thought the covert site was built in 2004, but was used as an operational military site around 10 years later. Using a mix of satellite imagery and declassified documents, CSIS was able to expose the site as a military base, which is thought to harbour six to nine warhead-wielding ICBMs.
The site, which is around the size of JFK airport in New York, could also hold launchers and the trucks that have been adapted to transport them. Analysts have warned the site is especially dangerous because there are no launch pads or air defence systems.
They believe this means the site contains solid fuel ICBMs which can be launched far more quickly than their counterparts. It means they're difficult to detect and even harder to carry out a pre emptive strike.
The CSIS has gone so far to say the weapons pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States There are at least 15 undeclared missile sites across the country, according to reports, including missile bases and warhead depots. CSIS analysts say this is the first confirmation of the site in Sinpung dong.
Current estimates suggest North Korea has an arsenal of 50 nuclear warheads and enough material to build 50 more. The fear is that this base could deploy the warheads to other parts of the country from where they would be fired.
Kim Jong un instructing soldiers at a firing contest
Secret North Korea Nuclear Ballistic Missiles Base Uncovered-Can Strike US
North Koreas CHILLING Warning to US Just Weeks Before TRUMP Takes Office
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Secret North Korea Nuclear Ballistic Missiles Base Uncovered-Can Strike US
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