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North Korea Claims Senior Diplomat Was Sent Blackmail Letter While in New York

The letter allegedly ordered the official to “cooperate with a certain organization through a secret contact,” or his “personal security would be at risk.”

A North Korean diplomat received a blackmail letter earlier this year in New York, according to a U.N. report cited by Yonhap News Agency. During a June United Nations meeting, the diplomat recalled that an unidentified man dropped off a “small package” at the apartment of a senior member in the North Korean mission two months earlier. The package contained a blackmail letter, two small bottles of alcohol, and three photos of the parking garage used by the senior member “marked with an X in chalk.” The letter allegedly demanded that the official “cooperate with a certain organization through a secret contact,” or his “personal security would be at risk.” The New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly conducted an investigation into the matter and found “no current threat” to the North Korean mission. However, the country claimed the U.S. was lacking “sincerity” in the probe and alleged that the U.S. could be behind the incident.