Advertisement
Three strange links between Macau, North Korea: from Saddam Hussein to customs chief’s death
Casino deals, asylum offer for the Iraqi dictator and an unexplained demise
Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
CASINOS
In 1999, Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun opened a HK$233 million casino in Pyongyang next to the Communist Party headquarters. The development was built after Hong Kong’s Emperor Group chairman, Albert Yeung Sau-shing, received an exclusive casino licence to operate in North Korea in 1996, which he sold in part to Ho.
SADDAM HUSSEIN
A few days before the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Pyongyang offered asylum to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein saying it would give him and his family a mountain to live on. The unexpected intermediary was Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho.
Why does everybody assume Kim Jong-un killed his brother?
North Korean senior officials “told me there really was a chance to prevent a war, and said Saddam Hussein could step down two days before the US and Britain started to bomb and he could call democratic elections,” Ho said. A source said Kim Jong-nam was friends with Hussein’s two sons, who were killed in a battle that year. Hussein, who did not take North Korea’s offer, was executed in 2006.
A STRANGE DEATH
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x