North Koreans ‘pack up’ all businesses in Nepal

Pramod Raj Sedhain

12 December 2019

Time taken to read : 9 Minute

KATHMANDU: The government of Nepal’s exertion to shut down all North Korean businesses has finally materialized.

North Korean investors have shut down all their businesses in Nepal after a series of caveats from the Nepali authorities, and mounting pressure and monitoring from the UN and the United States.

Khabarhub had carried out a series of stories on how North Koreans were misusing Nepal’s soil to make money. The North Koreans were operating restaurants, hospitals, and software companies in Nepal before Khabarhub exposed their illegal activities.

Sources have claimed that six out of the 17 North Koreans staying illegally in Nepal are in the process of leaving the country while the rest have already left Nepal.

Earlier, 33 North Koreans staying in Nepal illegally have also returned to their country. So far, a total of 44 North Koreans have left the country.

Director-General of Immigration Department Ishwor Raj Poudel said the UN has imposed sanctions on North Korea. “Nepal, being a UN member state, must abide by the UN decision,” he said adding, “The decision to send back North Koreans is purely in line with the UN sanctions.”

The Nepal government was even reluctant to extend the visa of these workers after the United Nations (UN) in August this year wrote a letter to the former to strictly execute the sanctions imposed on North Korea.

Khabarhub also had on September 4 carried a story about the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu lobbying to extend visa status of over a dozen of North Koreans staying and working illegally in Nepal even after the expiration of their visa dates.

In September, Nepal had given a two-month ultimatum to North Koreans to take back their investments shuttering their businesses. With the deadline approaching near, the Department of Industry, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ordered them to close or sell their business firms by the end of October and leave Nepal.

The Embassy was making efforts to extend the visa of its nationals working at the Botonggang Restaurant and Bar P. Ltd (on the top floor of Rising Mall in Durbarmarg, Kathmandu) whose visas had expired on June 6, 2019.

It should be noted that the UN had repeatedly reminded Nepal to rein in North Korean activities in the Nepali soil. In a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), this year, the UN had urged the Nepali government to stop all North Korean businesses in Nepal.

The government in a letter to UN on November 6 had made the government’s stance clear saying it would cooperate in the effective implementation of UN policies and directives.

Director at the Department Prem Prasad Luitel said that North Koreans were told to pull their investments from Nepal due to sanctions imposed by the United Nations.

According to him, they had rewritten a formal diktat through the Foreign Ministry instructing them to close or sell their business firms by the end of October and leave Nepal.

It should be noted that Ne-Koryo Hospital established by North Korea at Damauli in Tanahun district has already been shut down.

The hospital went packed up after the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) did not renew its license after having found that the doctors had been working here at the hospital without work-permit.

“This is a positive development. The decision to drive out the North Koreans and shut down their businesses is a move to be appreciated,” said former DIG Hemant Malla, adding, “This has augmented Nepal’s image in the international arena.”

“No foreigner can run or operate businesses illegally in Nepal. Nepal Police will take necessary action according to the law against anybody involved in such activities,” said Spokesperson of Nepal Police Bishwo Raj Pokhrel.

Khabarhub had published news headlined ‘Sans work permit, North Korean doctors work illegally in Nepal’ after they were found working without a work permit in a sensitive health-related field like a hospital on April 24.

“Since North Koreans were carrying out suspicious activities in Nepal, the decision of the government to shut down all their activities can be taken as a positive move. This will send a positive message to the world,” said Former Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai.

According to him, Nepal as a sovereign country and being a member of the UN, has to abide by the UN Resolution.

Even South Korea Ambassador to Nepal Park Young-sik had approached Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and raised its serious concern about North Korean activities and the UN sanctions.

Meanwhile, Japan, Nepal’s largest donor, too, had earlier raised concern over North Korea’s businesses in Nepal and urged the government of Nepal to stop all its activities.

Khabarhub had on April 9 this year has carried out a report of a group of North Korean hackers who were surreptitiously active in operating cyber espionage from Apartment No 16 ‘A’ of the Harmony Housing at Tokha, around five kilometers north of Kathmandu’s Basundhara (Ringroad), especially targeting banking and financial institutions across the world.

This was revealed through investigations by Khabarhub for months. The Harmony Housing, away from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu, has a total of 11 buildings.

Meanwhile, North Korean Ambassador Jo Yong Men, despite striving hard through various channels for more than one and a half years to meet Prime Minister KP Oli, had failed to materialize.

Sources have claimed that Prime Minister Oli has advised his ministers to abstain from meeting North Korean authorities, and the intelligence agencies under him are vigilant about N Korean activities lately.

“PM Oli has decided not to sour the government’s relations with the western powers, mainly the United States and the European countries by making contacts with the North Koreans,” a source said.

In the meantime, sources have claimed that North Korea has initiated the process to bring more workers from its homeland to Nepal in January next year to start new businesses here, sources have claimed.

Prime Minister Oli is, however, not in a mood to entertain them in any way.

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