Mar.15, 2010

London,-North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has a USD 4 billion "emergency fund" hidden in secret accounts in European banks, a media report said.

The 68-year-old has kept much of the money in banks in Luxembourg, which he intends to use to continue his lavish way of life if he is forced to flee North Korea, 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted South Korean intelligence sources as saying.

The money is the profits from the impoverished nation selling its nuclear and missile technology, dealing in narcotics, insurance fraud, the use of forced labour, and the counterfeiting of foreign currency, the report said.

The money was earlier held in Swiss banks until the authorities there started tightening the regulations on money laundering, the unnamed sources were quoted as saying.