5. Room 39
Room 39 is a secretive North Korean government organization that seeks ways to maintain the foreign currency slush fund for the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The organization holds as much as $5 billion in funds, and may be involved in illegal activities, such as counterfeiting $100 bills, production of controlled substances, and international insurance fraud. Although the seclusion of the North Korean state makes it difficult to evaluate this kind of information, many claim that Room 39 is critical to Kim Jong-un’s continued power, enabling him to buy political support and to help fund North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
