Umno veteran says partnership with alleged N. Korean spy front was ‘pure business’

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — Datuk Mustapha Yaakub sought to play down his partnership with a company that tried to sell North Korean battlefield radio equipment, amid global scrutiny on the East Asian country’s spy operations here.

In an interview with Singapore broadcaster, the Umno’s veterans association secretary-general admitted to being part of the company for three years before he realised that selling North Korean military equipment was in violation United Nations (UN) sanctions against the reclusive state.

But he also said that he had no knowledge that Glocom was a company that belonged to the North Korean intelligence agency.

“I only know that Glocom is the products we were going to market that’s all ... We purely meant business. I accepted a partnership (offer) from North Korea as a businessman without further investigating their background,” he was quoted saying in the interview published on Channel News Asia’s website.

Mustapha said he became a director at International Global System and International Golden Services, set up here in 2005, before the company attempted to sell battlefield radios in Malaysia and also abroad.

Mustapha said he set up the company with three North Koreans who were introduced to him by a North Korean embassy official.

However, he added that he ordered the companies to be shut down three years later when he learnt about the sanctions.

He reportedly said that not a single unit of the radios were sold as there were no buyers.

“There were already sanctions but I didn’t know the products were under UN sanctions until after we were advised by the police and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry,” he was quoted saying.

“When we knew the products were not sellable by the market because of the sanctions, we quickly decided to close the company,” he added.

International newswire Reuters reported earlier this week that Glocom in Brickfields is a front company for North Korean intelligence agents selling their battlefield radios in violation of UN sanctions. Glocom’s website was registered in 2009 but has since been taken down.