# Shadow State: The Secret History of North Korea’s Room 39

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940/shadow-state-the-secret-history-of-north-korea-s-room-39
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940/shadow-state-the-secret-history-of-north-korea-s-room-39.md
Podcast: [Spy Craft](https://stenobird.com/podcast/spy-craft-2136940)
Published: 2026-05-19T09:15:02+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/shadow-state-the-secret-history-of-north-korea-s-room-39--72062408
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72062408/room_39_north_korea.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/spy-craft-2136940/episodes/shadow-state-the-secret-history-of-north-korea-s-room-39
Duration seconds: 315

## Resource

Deep within the closed borders of Pyongyang sits Room 39, a highly secretive government branch dedicated to generating hard foreign currency for the North Korean regime. This gripping investigative episode unpacks the shadowy world of state-sponsored operations, tracking how billions of dollars flow through global networks via illicit trade, counterfeit currencies, and state-sanctioned smuggling. Discover the high-stakes intelligence operations that have spent decades trying to expose and dismantle the world’s most elusive financial network.

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## Transcript

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