N.Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, UN says

A general view of the building housing Glocom's offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (REUTERS/Ebrahim Harris)
Updated 27 February 2017
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N.Korea spy agency runs arms operation out of Malaysia, UN says

KUALA LUMPUR: It is in Kuala Lumpur’s “Little India” neighborhood, behind an unmarked door on the second floor of a rundown building, where a military equipment company called Glocom says it has its office.
Glocom is a front company run by North Korean intelligence agents that sells battlefield radio equipment in violation of United Nations sanctions, according to a United Nations report submitted to the Security Council seen by Reuters.
Reuters found that Glocom advertises over 30 radio systems for “military and paramilitary” organizations on its Malaysian website, glocom.com.my.
Glocom’s Malaysian website, which was taken down late last year, listed the Little India address in its contacts section. No one answers the door there and the mailbox outside is stuffed with unopened letters. In fact, no company by that name exists in Malaysia. But two Malaysian companies controlled by North Korean shareholders and directors registered Glocom’s website in 2009, according to website and company registration documents.
And it does have a business, the unreleased UN report says. Last July, an air shipment of North Korean military communications equipment, sent from China and bound for Eritrea, was intercepted in an unnamed country. The seized equipment included 45 boxes of battlefield radios and accessories labelled “Glocom,” short for Global Communications Co.
Glocom is controlled by the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North Korean intelligence agency tasked with overseas operations and weapons procurement, the report says, citing undisclosed information it obtained.
A spokesman for North Korea’s mission at the UN told Reuters he had no information about Glocom.
UN resolution 1874, adopted in 2009, expanded the arms embargo against North Korea to include military equipment and all “related materiel.”
But implementation of the sanctions “remains insufficient and highly inconsistent” among member countries, the UN report says, and North Korea is using “evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication.”
Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world which had strong ties with North Korea. Their citizens can travel to each other’s countries without visas. But those ties have begun to sour after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother was murdered at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on Feb 13.

Pan systems
According to the “WHOIS” database, which discloses website ownership, Glocom.com.my was registered in 2009 by an entity called International Global System using the “Little India” address. A similarly named company, International Golden Services is listed as the contact point on Glocom’s website.
Glocom registered a new website, glocom-corp.com, in mid-December, this one showing no Malaysian contacts. Its most recent post is dated January, 2017 and advertises new products, including a remote control system for a precision-guided missile.
Glocom is operated by the Pyongyang branch of a Singapore-based company called Pan Systems, the UN report says, citing an invoice and other information it obtained.
Louis Low, managing director of Pan Systems in Singapore said his company used to have an office in Pyongyang from 1996 but officially ended relations with North Korea in 2010 and was no longer in control of any business there.
“They use (the) Pan Systems (name) and say it’s a foreign company, but they operate everything by themselves,” Low told Reuters referring to the North Koreans at the Pyongyang office.
Pan Systems Pyongyang utilized bank accounts, front companies and agents mostly based in China and Malaysia to buy components and sell completed radio systems, the UN report says. Pan Systems Pyongyang could not be reached for comment.
One of the directors of Pan Systems Pyongyang is Ryang Su Nyo. According to a source with direct knowledge of her background, Ryang reports to “Liaison Office 519”, a department in the Reconnaissance General Bureau. Ryang is also listed as a shareholder of International Global System, the company that registered Glocom’s website.
Reuters has not been able to contact Ryang.


Smuggling cash
Ryang frequently traveled to Singapore and Malaysia to meet with Pan Systems representatives, the UN report says.
On one such trip in February 2014, she and two other North Koreans were detained in Malaysia for attempting to smuggle $450,000 through customs at Kuala Lumpur’s budget airport terminal, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The North Korean trio told Malaysian authorities they all worked for Pan Systems and the cash belonged to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, according to the two sources.
The Malaysian Attorney General decided not to press charges because of insufficient evidence. A week later, the trio was allowed to travel, and the North Korean embassy claimed the cash, the sources said. All three had passports assigned to government officials, the sources said.
Malaysia’s Customs Department and the Attorney General’s office did not respond to requests for comment over the weekend.
The Pan Systems representative in Kuala Lumpur is a North Korean by the name of Kim Chang Hyok, the UN report says.
Kim, who also goes by James Kim, was a founding director of International Golden Services, the company listed in the contacts section of the Glocom website. Kim is director and shareholder of four other companies in Malaysia operating in the fields of IT and trade, according to the Malaysian company registry.
He did not respond to requests for comment by mail or e-mail.
The United Nations panel, which prepared the draft report, asked the Malaysian government if it would expel Kim and freeze the assets of International Golden Services and International Global System to comply with UN sanctions. The UN did not say when it made the request.
“The panel has yet to receive an answer,” the report said.
Reuters has not received a response from the Malaysian government to repeated requests for comment about Glocom.


Political connection
One of Glocom’s early partners in Malaysia was Mustapha Ya’akub, a prominent member of Malaysia’s ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO). Since 2014, he has been listed as a director of International Golden Services.
As secretary of the UMNO youth wing’s international affairs bureau, Mustapha fostered political connections in the 1990s with countries, such as Iran, Libya and North Korea. Glocom’s Little India address once housed a company owned by UMNO Youth.
Mustapha, 67, said he had been a Glocom business partner “many years back” and said it has been continuously controlled by several North Koreans, including Kim Chang Hyok, whom he said he knew. He did not divulge his role in the company, and denied any knowledge of Glocom’s current business.
“We thought at the time it might be a good idea to go into business together,” Mustapha told Reuters about his first meeting with his North Korean business contacts. He did not say who those contacts were or what they discussed. He denied any knowledge of Glocom’s current business.
Glocom advertises and exhibits its wares without disclosing its North Korean connections.
“Anywhere, Anytime in Battlefield,” reads the slogan on one of several 2017 Glocom catalogues obtained by Reuters.
An advertisement in the September 2012 edition of the Asian Military Review said Glocom develops radios and equipment for “military and paramilitary organizations.”
A spokesman for the magazine confirmed the ad had been bought by Glocom, but said the magazine was unaware of its alleged links to North Korea.
Glocom has exhibited at least three times since 2006 at Malaysia’s biennial arms show, Defense Services Asia (DSA), according to Glocom’s website.
At DSA 2016, Glocom paid 2,000 ringgit ($450) to share a table in the booth of Malaysia’s Integrated Securities Corporation, its director Hassan Masri told Reuters by e-mail.
Hassan said he had nothing to do with Glocom’s equipment and was unaware of its alleged links to North Korea.
Aside from the North Koreans behind Glocom, clues on its website also point to its North Korean origins.
For instance, one undated photo shows a factory worker testing a Glocom radio system. A plaque nearby shows the machine he is using has won a uniquely North Korean award: The Model Machine No. 26 Prize,” named in honor of late leader Kim Jong Il, who is said to have efficiently operated “Lathe No. 26” at the Pyongyang Textile Factory when he was a student.
(Reporting by James Pearson and Rozanna Latiff. Additional reporting by Nicole Nee in Singapore, Michelle Price in Hong Kong and Ned Parker in New York.)


Kremlin says Putin and Trump could meet before end of February, agencies report

Updated 2 sec ago
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Kremlin says Putin and Trump could meet before end of February, agencies report

  • The talks in Riyadh were the first time US and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two
  • Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump could meet as early as this month, although a face-to-face meeting will take time to prepare, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies.
Peskov said the US-Russia talks held on Tuesday in Riyadh were a “very, very important step” toward reaching a settlement on the Ukraine war, nearing its third year.
“In order to carry out, figuratively speaking, resuscitation measures, diplomats will now begin to work in light of the agreement (Russian Foreign Minister Sergei) Lavrov reached yesterday with (US Secretary of State Marco) Rubio,” Peskov was quoted by state media as saying.
“But this is the first step...Naturally, it’s impossible to fix everything in one day or a week. There is a long way to go,” he added.
The talks in Riyadh were the first time US and Russian officials met to discuss ways to halt the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two. No Ukrainian or European officials were invited. Kyiv has said it will not accept any deal imposed without its consent.

Pakistan wants to expel all Afghan refugees from the country, says Afghan embassy

Updated 1 min 50 sec ago
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Pakistan wants to expel all Afghan refugees from the country, says Afghan embassy

  • The embassy on Wednesday issued a strongly worded statement about Pakistan’s plans, saying Afghan nationals in the capital, Islamabad
  • The Afghan embassy in Islamabad says Pakistan wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the country and their expulsion is imminent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the country and their expulsion is imminent, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad warned Wednesday.
The embassy issued a strongly worded statement about Pakistan’s plans, saying Afghan nationals in the capital, Islamabad, and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi have been subjected to arrests, searches, and orders from the police to leave the twin cities and relocate to other parts of Pakistan.
“This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad through any formal correspondence,” it added.
Besides hundreds of thousands of those living illegally in Pakistan, there are around 1.45 million Afghan nationals registered with UNHCR as refugees.


Trump bashes Zelensky, ‘confident’ on Ukraine deal

Updated 37 min 34 sec ago
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Trump bashes Zelensky, ‘confident’ on Ukraine deal

  • Zelensky previously criticized the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair and involve European countries

PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump has effectively blamed Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion, as French President Emmanuel Macron prepares for another round of talks with EU and non-European partners on Wednesday.
Zelensky previously criticized the US-Russia talks for excluding Kyiv, saying efforts to end the war must be “fair and involve European countries.
The Ukrainian leader’s comments appeared to incense Trump, who launched a series of verbal attacks on Zelensky.
“I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday.
“Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”
Trump also suggested he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month in Saudi Arabia as he overhauls Washington’s stance toward Moscow — a shift that has alarmed European leaders.
Earlier Tuesday, Russia and the United States had agreed to establish teams to negotiate a path to ending the war in Ukraine after talks that drew a strong rebuke from Kyiv, with Zelensky postponing his own trip to Saudi Arabia.
France’s Macron announced another meeting in Paris on Ukraine after the US-Russia talks, adding that Trump “can restart a useful dialogue” with Putin.
Trump also increased pressure on Zelensky to hold elections — echoing one of Moscow’s key demands.
Trump wants Ukraine election
Asked whether the United States would support demands that Russia wanted to force Zelensky to hold new elections as part of any deal, Trump began by criticizing what he said were the Ukrainian’s approval ratings.
“They want a seat at the table, but you could say... wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since we’ve had an election,” said Trump.
“That’s not a Russian thing, that’s something coming from me, from other countries.”
Zelensky was elected in 2019 for a five-year term, but has remained in office as Ukraine is still under martial law.
Trump’s latest remarks are unlikely to allay fears among some European leaders, already worried that Washington will make serious concessions to Moscow and re-write the continent’s security arrangement in a Cold War-style deal.
Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table “at some point.”
The US-Russia talks — the first high-level official talks between the two countries since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine — drew a fiery response from Kyiv.
“This will only be feeding Putin’s appetite,” a Ukrainian senior official requesting anonymity told AFP, referring to the launch of talks without Ukraine.
Trump for his part said he was “much more confident” of a deal after the Riyadh talks, telling reporters Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate: “I think I have the power to end this war.”
’Heard each other’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to “appoint respective high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible,” the State Department said.
Washington added that the sides had also agreed to “establish a consultation mechanism” to address “irritants” to the US-Russia relationship, noting the sides would lay the groundwork for future cooperation.
Riyadh marks a diplomatic coup for Moscow, which had been isolated for three years under the previous US administration of Joe Biden.
Moscow’s economic negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, said Western attempts to isolate Russia had “obviously failed.”
“We did not just listen but heard each other, and I have reason to believe the American side has better understood our position,” Lavrov told reporters.
The veteran diplomat noted that Russia opposed any deployment of NATO-nation troops to Ukraine as part of an eventual ceasefire.
European allies publicly diverged this week over whether they would be open to sending truce peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Macron, in an interview with French regional newspapers, appeared open to the idea of sending troops to Ukraine but only in the most limited fashion and away from conflict zones.
He said new talks would take place “with several European and non-European states,” after an emergency meeting on Monday in Paris which brought together a small number of key European countries.
Moscow has long called for the withdrawal of NATO forces from eastern Europe, viewing the alliance as an existential threat on its flank.
The Kremlin on Tuesday said Ukraine had the right to join the European Union, but not the NATO military alliance.
It also said Putin was “ready” to negotiate with Zelensky “if necessary.”


Bangladesh clashes leave nearly 150 students injured

Updated 19 February 2025
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Bangladesh clashes leave nearly 150 students injured

DHAKA: More than 150 students have been injured in Bangladesh during clashes at a university campus, a sign of serious discord between groups instrumental in fomenting a national revolution last year.
Tuesday afternoon’s clashes began after the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) sought to recruit students at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology in the country’s southwest.
That sparked a confrontation with campus members of Students Against Discrimination, a protest group that led the uprising that ousted autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina last August.
At least 50 people were taken for treatment after the skirmish, Khulna police officer Kabir Hossain told AFP.
“The situation is now under control, and an extra contingent of police has been deployed,” he added.
Communications student Jahidur Rahman told AFP that those hospitalized had injuries from thrown bricks and “sharp weapons,” and that around 100 others had suffered minor injuries.
Footage of the violence showing rival groups wielding scythes and machetes, along with injured students being carted to hospital for treatment, was widely shared on Facebook.
Both groups blamed the other for starting the violence, with the BNP student wing chief Nasir Uddin Nasir accusing members of Islamist political party Jamaat of agitating the situation to force a confrontation.
Jamaat activists “created this unwarranted clash,” he told AFP.
Local student Obayed Ullah told AFP that the BNP had defied a decision by the campus to remain free of activities by established political parties.
He added that there was “no presence” of Jamaat on campus.
The incident provoked outrage among students elsewhere in the country, with a protest rally held late Tuesday night to condemn the BNP’s youth wing at Dhaka University.
Students Against Discrimination launched protests last year that toppled Bangladesh’s former government and chased ex-leader Hasina into exile after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.
Activists from the BNP joined with student protesters in the final days of Hasina’s tenure, defying a bloody crackdown by security forces that killed hundreds.
The BNP is widely expected to win fresh elections slated to be held by the middle of next year under the supervision of the South Asian country’s current caretaker administration.
Student leaders have meanwhile struggled to parley their success in engineering Hasina’s fall into a durable political force.


Migrant groups say racist attacks increase in German city after deadly Christmas market violence

Updated 19 February 2025
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Migrant groups say racist attacks increase in German city after deadly Christmas market violence

  • Migrants who have settled in the German city of Magdeburg say they have experienced a sharp increase in racism and anti-immigration sentiments following a deadly Christmas market attack last year
  • The violence has ensured that migration remains a key issue as the country heads toward an early election Sunday

MAGDEBURG: When Haben Gebregergish first immigrated to the German city of Magdeburg seven years ago, the Eritrean immigrant was walking to the supermarket with her child when an intoxicated woman approached her on the street.
At the time, Gebregergish did not speak German well enough to comprehend what the woman was saying. But Gebregergish says that when the woman threw a beer bottle at her head, she immediately understood.
It was one of her first encounters with racism, but certainly not the last. In the aftermath of a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg late last year, Gebregergish and other migrants who have settled in the city say they have experienced a sharp increase in racism and anti-immigration sentiments.
“We are the same as you,” Gebregergish said earlier this month. “We are not different. Just like you, we have feelings. Sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are happy, just like everyone else.”
The Christmas market violence was one of five high-profile attacks committed by immigrants in the past nine months that have made migration a key issue as the country heads toward an early election on Sunday. The suspect, a Saudi doctor, drove into the holiday market teeming with shoppers and left five women and a 9-year-old boy dead and 200 people injured.
The suspect arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency, and authorities say the suspect does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him.
Just one day after Dec. 20 violence, there was a large right-wing demonstration in Magdeburg, and verbal and physical attacks on people with a migrant background have increased significantly in the city since then, according to the German-Syrian Cultural Association in Magdeburg.
“The migrant community and the advice centers report that attacks have increased by more than 70 percent here in the city,” said Saeeid Saeeid, who came to Germany from Syria seven years ago and is a member of the association. “Racism already exists here and everywhere. But it has increased enormously since the attack.”
Ketevan Asatiani-Hermann, newly elected chair of the board for the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration in Magdeburg, said victims of racist attacks in the city often do not feel support from politicians or police.
“The hatred has always been there, people just didn’t dare to say it so clearly before,” said Asatiani-Hermann, who came to Magdeburg in 2011 from Georgia.
Officers sometimes target or search the victims first before the perpetrator, she alleged, and they also worry reporting an attack could have a negative impact on their residence status.
The Magdeburg Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Mayor Simone Borris, in a statement, said: “Cohesion and community are fundamental values of a city that are inviolable.” The mayor also referred media to online services for migrants, and said the city’s Cooperation with the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration will be expanded.
Magdeburg is located in the former communist east, an area where the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has its highest support. The party is polling in second place going into the upcoming election with about 20 percent support and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country.
Even though it’s highly unlikely to take a share of power soon, it has become a factor that other politicians can’t ignore and has helped shape Germany’s debate on migration.
The election’s outcome — and a potential gain in influence for AfD — could have a large impact on Magdeburg’s politics and everyday life, Asatiani-Hermann said.
Saeeid said the city’s migrants feel alone, and want to hear directly from their elected officials to address their concerns.
“We will not allow Magdeburg to become a playing field for racism and hatred,” he said.