Zokwang Trading was founded in 1974 in Macau , then under Portuguese administration , soon after Portugal recognised North Korea , following the Carnation Revolution , in which a left-wing government came to power . It functioned as North Korea 's '' de facto '' consulate in Macau , issuing documents and visas . In a 2006 intelligence report , Zokwang was described as a local unit of a North Korean company called Daesung Chongguk , officially involved in the machinery and textiles trade and allegedly coordinating opium trafficking , which was using Macau " as a base to move counterfeit dollars and to try to procure components for its weapons systems " . North Korean government officials and other sources state that the company engages in legitimate business transactions , purchasing cigarettes , food , liquor , televisions , and luxury goods for shipment to Pyongyang , but police long had suspicions about Zokwang 's activities . One of its officers , An Gun-ho , was identified as a senior counterintelligence officer of North Korea 's Ministry of Political Security . North Korea was also alleged to have used Macau as a base for planning the 1983 Rangoon bombing , an assassination attempt on South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan , in which 21 people were killed , but the vice-president of Zokwang Trading , Kim Chol Jun , denied allegations of espionage . Kim Hyon-hui , one of the agents who carried out the bombing of 1987 Korean Air Flight 858 , claimed to have spent several months training at Zokwang Trading 's office while living in Macau . In her autobiography , '' The Tears of My Soul '' , she wrote that , while living there , she learned Cantonese so that she and other North Korean agents could pose as local Chinese residents
Rangoon bombing
Rangoon bombing
Zokwang Trading