Hong Kong, Mar 09: A North Korean consular official in Hong Kong today denied reports that his country offered asylum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, calling such a claim "groundless."
The official, who declined to give his name, disputed Hong Kong media reports last week that quoted gambling tycoon Stanley ho as saying North Korea had made the offer.
"The news report ... was groundless," the official told
the associated press by telephone when asked about the
reports. "The remarks made by Stanley ho were not true," he
said. "My country has never stated such a petition."
Ho, who has business interests and a casino in North Korea, told The South China Morning Post newspaper last week that high-level North Korean officials had told him they had offered sanctuary to the Iraqi leader and his family.
The newspaper also reported today that South Korea's consul-general in Hong Kong had asked to meet with Ho to discuss his comments.
Calls to the South Korean consulate in Hong Kong and to Ho's office went unanswered today.
Ho, who held a monopoly gaming in Macau for four decades, opened a casino next to the North Korean Communist Party headquarters in pyongyang in 1999, according to the post.
Macau, an enclave 60 kilometers west of Hong Kong, was governed by the Portuguese for more than four centuries before it was returned to China in 1999.
Bureau Report
