Ulrich Larsen, a “normal family man” from Denmark, found himself in a luxurious conference room beneath a North Korean factory on the outskirts of Pyongyang one cold morning in 2017. Officials from the reclusive regime were singing karaoke and drinking spirits while Larsen and his business partner were closing an illegal weapons deal. This was just the beginning of a 10-year undercover operation to expose North Korea’s illegal drug and weapons trading.
The Bizarre Deal Unfolds
In the midst of the banquet, a major figure in North Korea’s weapons industry began to sing a patriotic pop anthem glorifying the Kim dynasty. Contracts for missile systems worth hundreds of millions of dollars changed hands, and Larsen was even asked to sing a song. Not quite up to the challenge, a slightly tipsy Larsen sang a Danish children’s song he usually performed for his kids at bedtime, touching one of the officials.
The Long Road to Pyongyang
In 2010, Larsen embarked on a project to shine a light on a group called the Korean Friendship Association of Denmark – a Monty Python-style group devoted to North Korean ideology. After befriending the head of the European wing, Larsen recorded their conversations and developed a friendship with Alejandro Cao de Benos, who was seeking investors for North Korea despite sanctions.
The Mole Documentary
What started as a documentary poking fun at the Korean Friendship group turned into a damning expose on North Korea’s clandestine dealings. Hundreds of hours of conversations were recorded, uncovering damning evidence of how North Korea was skirting international sanctions. When the documentary was released in 2020 as “The Mole,” Larsen became an overnight celebrity, accompanied by security and met by South Korea’s intelligence service when he traveled there.
In a shocking revelation, Larsen had kept the true purpose of his undercover activity secret from his family for nearly 10 years. His wife initially thought he was just traveling around with filmmakers, unaware of the risks he was taking. Now, Larsen shares his story worldwide and remains concerned about North Korea’s deployments to the conflict in Ukraine.
As Larsen jokes about being undercover at 9News and working on a book about his time infiltrating North Korea, his journey of courage, risk, and dedication stands as a testament to the extraordinary lengths one man went to uncover the truth about North Korea’s illicit activities.