(Source- Channel A News Top Ten 3.29) According to, Kim Jong Bong, a former Korean National Intelligence Service employee, Adrian Hong Chang had previously contacted Kim Jong Nam and asked him to lead a government in exile repeatedly which he refused to do.
During the YTN interview, national security analyst Kim Jong Bong, said that according to a Japanese language report, Kim Jong Nam met with two CIA people directly before he was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017. (Kim Jong Nam was Kim Han Sol's father and Kim Jong Un's half brother.) In his opinion the Japanese report was credible. The YTN news graphic in the background shows the relationship he observes among three entities during the rescue of Kim Han Sol after his father's death: Choellima Civil Defense, extract; CIA, transfer; FBI protect. Choellima Civil Defense spirited Kim Han Sol away from Macau within 48 hours of his father's reported assassination according to current news accounts. Free Joseon is the new name of the organization now associated with the burglary of the occupied DPRK embassy in Madrid.
Kim Jong Bong, a former National Intelligence Service, North Korea desk analyst, stated he felt there was involvement by the CIA in the Kim Han Sol defection and protection operation by the so called Choellima Civil Defense group, but doesn't believe they provided the command or direct support for the DPRK Madrid embassy break in. He concedes that other observers perceive the possibility of US direct support but feels that this kind of action by the US is unlikely because it would hurt US interests and be futile in that respect. Can the US afford to appear in a role supporting or aiding the violation of international law in respect to embassies?
The timing of the attack was intended to discourage the negotiations with the DPRK in Hanoi. (Despite a denial to the contrary on the Free Joseon web site.) Free Joseon also provides a useful cutout for operations to weaken the DPRK political position in prospective negotiations and otherwise. Namely, an "independent group" carried out the embassy attack and then provided the FBI with intelligence information they took by force. Most Korean analysts seem to agree that the group that carried out the embassy attack has had extensive training in such special operations from military or intelligence training sources. The YTN guest, who also appears regularly on Channel A News Top Ten as an expert commentator, thinks the US relationship with Adrian Hong Chang probably emerged over his years of assisting and providing sanctuary to North Korean defectors.
Channel A News through a special Channel A News broadcast on April 17 available on youtube (Korean language) has played a role in propagating the notion that significant organized resistance exists in North Korea that will overthrow the totalitarian communist regime sooner or later. The analyst Kim Jong Bong who has been getting a lot of air time in these broadcasts made two interesting points. One is that it is completely inappropriate to cast another Kim heir apparent in a leadership role in Free Joseon, or even to make him the focus of such a group. (I would argue that it is counter-intuitive.) The second point, is that he believes that the attack on the Madrid embassy may have been a factor in the collapse of nuclear talks in Hanoi, affecting not only North Korea's attitude toward the talks, but also of that of Donald Trump.
The April 17 Channel A special on Free Joseon tries to make the case through an anonymous interview, (disguised voice of a male individual behind a screen), of a Free Joseon member claiming that a new generation of North Koreans born to elite purge victim families are behind the organization and (for that reason) have advanced skill sets, IT and security training, and the monetary resources to pose a threat to the regime. The latter doesn't seem very persuasive currently as the most significant links thus far appear to be with the US, namely Hong, and now, Christopher Ahn. The identity of a member labelled as Sam Ryu, said to be an American in the media after the Madrid incident, isn't clear at this point. Is this the USMC veteran Ahn or someone else? The impact, if any in North Korea, appears to be mostly psychological at this point.
According to Channel A news, Korean analysts believe Kim Han Sol is hiding in the US under FBI protection. Kim Jong Un also has a surviving older brother, Kim Jong Chul. In terms of the "mysterious" origins of the Free Joseon organization, two things stand out. The first is the disclosure of the groups solicitation of Kim Jong Nam as the representative leader of the exile provisional government and then his repeated refusal to play that role which allows all kinds of speculation. This plot is consistent with historical dynastic intrigues in Chosun that predate the modern era. Secondly, the prosecution case against the alleged perpetrators of the crime in Kuala Lumpur basically was extremely weak from the beginning. Lack of evidence forced the government to release the one North Korean male suspect in custody. Other alleged North Korean suspects escaped the country. The prosecution itself stated at the outset that it couldn't prove a state conspiracy, but could prove that the two female suspects, who were not North Koreans, were involved materially in killing the victim. They actually had enormous difficulty with that task as well and both suspects are free now, one case dismissed and the other released on a very generous plea bargain. These factual outcomes seem to have compelled the Channel A News presentation to recount in some detail the events surrounding the Kuala Lumpur airport killing, as part of the background of Free Joseon and its role safeguarding Kim Han Sol.
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