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{{Short description|North Korean defector}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
'''Kim Kuk-song''' ({{Korean|hangul=김국성}}) is the pseudonym of a [[North Korean defectors|North Korean defector]]. He served for 30 years in North Korean intelligence agencies and rose to the rank of senior colonel.  Kim defected to South Korea following the execution of [[Jang Song-thaek]] with whom he had political connections.  Following the defection he provided information on a number of intelligence operations he had been involved with.
== Biography ==
Kim Kuk-song is a pseudonym; his real name has not been disclosed.  He worked for 30 years in a number of North Korean intelligence agencies and rose to the rank of [[Sa (rank)|daechwa]] (senior colonel).  Kim has stated that he personally directed a number of spies to enter South Korea to carry out political subordination in the early 1990s, including one spy who worked for more than five years in the [[Blue House]], residence of the South Korean president. During the [[1990s North Korean famine]] Kim said that he formed a unit to [[Illicit activities of North Korea|manufacture crystal meth to raise foreign currency for the regime]].  Kim also stated that he personally directed North Korean personnel to carry out the attempted assassination of defector [[Hwang Jang-yop]] in 2010, for which two North Korean majors were arrested and imprisoned by South Korea.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news |title=Drugs, arms, and terror: A high-profile defector on Kim's North Korea |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58838834 |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=BBC News |date=10 October 2021}}</ref>
Kim led a privileged life in North Korea.  He was permitted to travel abroad freely to sell rare metals and coal, the cash payment for which he carried in his suitcase on his return trip.  He had made senior political connections by means of marriage that allowed him to transfer between different North Korean intelligence agencies.<ref name=bbc/>  He was granted use of a Mercedes-Benz car by [[Kim Kyong-hui]], the sister of [[Kim Jong Il]], leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011.<ref name=chosun>{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Dong-hoon |last2=Park |first2=Su-hyeon |title=Defector speaks out: How North Korea's diplomatic maneuvers could isolate South Korea |url=https://www.chosun.com/english/north-korea-en/2024/09/22/JXU2OPZTIBHZ3JFTCX5GLDQY6I/ |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=The Chosun Daily |date=22 September 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
Kim Kyong-hui's husband, the senior political figure [[Jang Song-thaek]], was executed by Kim Jong Il's son and new leader [[Kim Jong Un]] in 2013.<ref name=bbc/>  Kim Kuk-song was abroad at the time he discovered this and feared he would be subject to execution under a follow-up purge.<ref name=chosun/><ref name=bbc/>  Kim subsequently defected to South Korea with his family in 2014.<ref name=bbc/>  At the time of his defection he was serving with the [[Reconnaissance General Bureau]], North Korea's foreign intelligence agency.  He is thought to be the most senior military official to ever defect.<ref>{{cite news |title=N Korea senior intelligence officer 'defects to South' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-36012288 |access-date=10 November 2024 |work=BBC News |date=11 April 2016}}</ref>
Since his defection, Kim has lived in Seoul.<ref name=bbc/>  Ahead of the [[2024 United States presidential election|November 2024 US presidential election]], he commented on what he believed the risks of a future US president engaging in diplomacy with North Korea were, an act he thought would embolden the regime and risk "sidelining" South Korea.<ref name=chosun/>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{North Korean defectors}}
[[Category:North Korean defectors]]
[[Category:20th-century births]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]