The freeze dryer illegally exported by a Korean trader to North Korea four years ago may be at a Pyongyang clinic used by top leader Kim Jong Il that is also suspected of being a biological weapons research facility, police sources said Friday.
Kim Young Gun, 58, former president of Tokyo-based Meisho Yoko, told investigators that he was of the belief that the dryer would be used at Ponghwa clinic, which is reserved for VIPs, including high-ranking members of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea but is also believed a biological weapons research lab.
Kim Young Gun, a Korean resident of Japan, was arrested Thursday for illegally exporting the freeze dryer, which could have biological warfare applications.
Freeze dryers, which quickly dry solid substances in a vacuum, are mainly used to make instant coffee and noodles.