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The former North Korean ambassador to Cuba, Lee Il-kyu, revealed a complex network of smuggling, espionage, and political influence woven by the regime of Kim Jong-un in Latin America.
According to an interview given to the agency EFE, North Korean embassies in the region—especially the one in Havana—have served for years as operational centers for illicit activities and covert intelligence, as well as platforms for propaganda and cooperation with allied governments.
Lee, who defected to South Korea two years ago after more than a decade of intermittent diplomatic service in Cuba, stated that he is well aware of the regime's practices on the continent.
He asserted that the North Korean embassy in Havana served as a base for smuggling Habanos cigars, one of the most lucrative activities for North Korean officials.
"They put the cigars in the diplomatic bags, which are not inspected; they buy them in Cuba for 50 dollars a box and sell them abroad for 1,000 dollars," he revealed.
The former official stated that "all diplomats are involved in those dealings," because the official salaries they receive from Pyongyang are so low that they are insufficient to live in the countries where they are posted.
This type of illegal operations, protected by diplomatic immunity, is a widespread practice within the regime's external network, not only in Latin America but also in Africa and Southeast Asia.
A diplomatic network at the service of espionage and economic survival
Born in 1972 and fluent in Spanish, Lee held the position of deputy director of Latin American Affairs and political advisor at the Pyongyang embassy in Havana, one of the highest positions in North Korean diplomacy.
His defection makes him one of the highest-ranking officials to have left the North Korean system in recent years.
According to their testimony, the North Korean embassies in Latin America not only serve to maintain diplomatic relations, but also host spies and finance their operations through smuggling.
"North Korea has many spies who operate under the title of diplomats," the defector assured, adding that countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico serve as key points due to their ideological affinities or their strategic geographic positions.
In the case of Cuba, cooperation has been particularly close.
"Cuba has a lot of influence, it has always been a member of the UN Human Rights Council, and it often speaks in favor of North Korea or abstains in votes on sanctions," Lee explained.
Between 2008 and 2020, Havana voted six times against resolutions condemning human rights violations in North Korea, according to data from the Center for Opening and Development in Latin America (CADAL).
In August of last year, the former North Korean diplomat admitted that he engaged in the illegal trafficking of cigars to China to support his family.
With a monthly salary of 500 dollars that was not enough in Cuba, Ri managed to smuggle Cuban cigars to China to supplement his income in Havana, as he revealed to the BBC, although he did not provide further details about the modus operandi of his activities, nor about how he obtained the cigars.
The Double Life of a Regime Diplomat
The defector reported that, despite the strict control of the regime, North Korean diplomats abroad enjoy a certain freedom that does not exist within the country.
In Cuba, for example, they can have friendships with foreigners—except for Americans or South Koreans—and even consume prohibited cultural products, such as South Korean movies or music.
Lee was personally honored by Kim Jong-un in 2016 for his role in the recovery of the ship Chong Chon Gang, which was detained in Panama three years earlier while transporting hidden Cuban weapons under sacks of sugar.
In 2018, he led the diplomatic team that welcomed Díaz-Canel in Pyongyang and even exchanged a few words with the North Korean leader himself.
His decision to flee, he explained, was driven by frustration with "a system where one is born and dies with the same fate" and by the desire for a free future for his family.
He currently resides in Seoul, where he works at the Advisory Council for the Peaceful Unification of Korea, and has just published his memoirs "The Kim Jong-un I Saw" in Japan, which will soon be available in Spanish and English.
"In South Korea, I can choose my job; here at least I am not afraid of dying from hunger," stated Lee, who now dedicates his life to exposing the hidden mechanisms of the regime for which he served for more than a decade.
His revelations not only unveil the economic survival strategies of North Korean diplomacy but also the role that countries like Cuba have played—whether out of affinity or convenience—in the preservation of one of the most repressive and opaque systems in the world.
Cuba, a key ally of Pyongyang
Lee's statements reignite attention on the close relationship between Cuba and North Korea, two of the last communist regimes on the planet. Both governments have maintained political and military ties since 1960, when they established diplomatic relations.
In 2018, Miguel Díaz-Canel visited Pyongyang with his wife and was honored by Kim Jong-un.
A year later, one of the main North Korean leaders, Ri Su-yong, vice president of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party, traveled to Havana to meet with high-ranking officials of the Cuban regime.
These visits have solidified a alliance that combines ideological affinity and strategic convenience.
According to Lee, the government of Pyongyang has managed to leverage that relationship to maintain networks of influence in the region and partially escape the isolation imposed by international sanctions.
"They are seeking allies who also feel threatened by the West," he noted.
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