A North Korean battalion responsible for the Paengnyonho Guesthouse in Pyongyang has been disbanded, following a proposal approved by Kim Jong Un in mid-August. The decision was due to significant security and secrecy issues at the guesthouse, with a new unit taking over its management.
The Paengnyonho Guesthouse is reserved for the use of select high-ranking officers in the Supreme Guard Command.
“Ordinary officers in the Supreme Guard Command are strictly prohibited from entering the facility,” a high-ranking source in North Korea told The Daily NK on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Just as the defense ministry has its own special guesthouse, this guesthouse is maintained for the exclusive use of the highest-ranking officers in the Supreme Guard Command. Security and secrecy were top priorities at a facility that was only accessible to a tiny fraction of officers at the Supreme Guard Command.”
The guard battalion at the guesthouse was responsible for maintaining safety and security while strictly controlling all means of access. The decision to disband a battalion with those responsibilities implies the occurrence of a serious internal issue — the kind of issue that might cause Kim Jong Un to lose confidence in the Supreme Guard Command, which is responsible for protecting him and his family.
The guard battalion’s dissolution followed several incidents in the first half of the year in which high-ranking officers with the Supreme Guard Command made use of the guesthouse without permission.
The issue was first raised by state security agents attached to the guesthouse guard battalion in July, which prompted the Supreme Guard Command’s security department to launch an immediate investigation.
The investigation found that certain high-ranking officers from the Supreme Guard Command had colluded with the commanders of the guesthouse guard battalion to put the guesthouse to private use. Even worse, it turned out that those officers had allowed civilians into the guesthouse, creating the risk of a leak of information about the interior and exterior of a guesthouse that was supposed to be a state secret.