[4] 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.
[6] 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".
[7] 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.
[10] 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.
[11] 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.