Michael Madden was dubbed the "encyclopedia" of Korea thanks to his extensive knowledge of the country.
Finding information on the country as well as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has always been a difficult one for the intelligence community, according to the Washington Post.
Kim has not left Korea since coming to power in late 2011. Over the past six years, the number of foreign guests welcomed by the North has been counted only on the fingers. They come from some countries like China, Cuba or Syria. Most notably, there is one from the United States, the former basketball star Dennis Rodman.
In addition, there is no other intelligence source about Kim Jong-un or the people around him. All that is included in the propaganda campaigns done by the Korean government, satellite images and lots of rumors.
But Michael Madden has become a "reluctant expert" about Korea, as he calls himself. In a darkened basement in Salt Lake City, Utah, Madden operates a website called "North Korea Leadership Watch," which records unusual occurrences or disappearances. of Kim and those around him. Madden, 37, was dubbed the "Korea Encyclopedia."
Encyclopedia
Through its website and relationships with government agencies and contractors, Madden has been tracking all of North Korea's top-level operations for nearly 10 years.
"It's like you have to track 300 people at the same time," Madden said.
Madden quickly became an influential person in the field he pursued. The Koreans began to notice. Madden had contacted Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un, the leader of the North Korean leader, before being murdered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February.
In particular, Madden is linked to both Koreans within the government. In fact, when a Washington Post correspondent who traveled to Pyongyang reported the last Labor Congress last year, Madden, sitting in Salt Lake City, nearly 10,000 kilometers away, told reporters about the program. The delegates in the hall uniform.
"Madden does a great job of gathering information from open sources and he is the one I follow in case he wants to learn about important leadership issues in Korea," said Jung H. Pak, an analyst. North Korea at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said.
The path to Madden became the "encyclopaedia" of Korea, quite accidentally. As a student at Suffolk University in Boston, Madden received a part-time job at the school's administrative department. This work took him to Prague, Czech Republic, where Suffolk University has a satellite program. The Czech Republic is home to many Koreans, including students and diplomats.
Madden became more interested in Korea. In 2006, when Wikimapia specialized site mapping was established, Madden was responsible for identifying locations in Korea.
Later, Madden wrote a scholarly journal of the Ryugyong Hotel, a splendid skyscraper in the capital, Pyongyang, but has never been opened due to construction errors and lack of funding.
In Prague, Madden was once invited to a local restaurant where Koreans came to meet and play chess. Gradually, he establishes contacts with them.
Madden opened the North Korea Leadership Watch website in September 2009, coincidentally with Kim Jong-un speculating that he would succeed Kim Jong-il, the then-Korean leader.
Madden began collecting information on Kim Jong-un's public appearances alongside his father, and compiled news reports about him and those around him, both inside and outside of Korea. . Madden does not know Korean, so he mainly relies on translations.
Madden remembers all the details of the people he cared about and typed every single line of KCNA newsletters to remember instead of just "copying" and "pasting".
Madden's work became important as the Korean leadership changed under Kim Jong-un. Sierra, Madden's wife, also started writing for the site.
Rumors of executions in Korea have always been of interest, especially to those in senior positions. However, to clarify their authenticity often takes a long time, Madden said. In such cases, he usually watches the news and waits.
According to Madden, if an official reappears after six months, that means the person has been "corrected." But if their images are edited, cut off from videos, newsletters, they may "no longer exist" or be expelled from the leadership.
"I have to put together the pieces together," Madden describes the work he does every day.
Vu Hoang
