Room 39
Even North Korea’s top government officials know they can’t make a living in the public sector. However, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has an ultra-secret scheme to help him plan for retirement though; it’s called Room 39. The elusive “room,” however, is not Kim’s brainchild. It was established in the late 1970s by his father, the equally megalomaniacal Kim Jong-il as a means to securing a hefty personal income. It has been described as the lynchpin of the North’s so-called “court economy” centered on providing a slush fund for the dynastic Kim family. This shadowy “organization” reportedly reaps profits by using 10 to 20 bank accounts in China and Switzerland for counterfeiting, money laundering, drug smuggling and arms trade. Room 39 has 120 foreign trade companies under its jurisdiction and is under the direct control of Kim Jong-un. North Korea is not a top tourist destination, but even if you did manage to get there, this is one spot way out of your tour.
