What Work Did Tyler Zacharia Do in North Korea?

Following up on yesterday’s Corner post, I wanted to know more about Katie Zacharia’s work for a law firm in Beijing with close ties to the Chinese Justice Ministry and the Chinese Communist Party . . . so let’s get to know the new White House press secretary’s husband, Tyler Zacharia.

Here’s his official biography at his current employer, 2521 Entertainment:

Prior to this, Tyler lived for 8 years in Beijing, China, serving as Vice President of Schulze Global Investments, a global emerging markets private equity firm that was successfully bought by Cerberus Capital. During his time there he led or participated in over 20 direct equity investments in 6 countries across 4 continents. He helped expand the business and build teams in Ethiopia, Brazil, Mongolia and North Korea. [Emphasis added]

I’m sorry, where now? He worked in the Beijing office of an American firm, expanding the business and building teams in . . . North Korea?

From Tyler Zacharia’s LinkedIn page, he worked for that firm in Beijing from 2007 to 2013.

Mind you, this is not someone else alleging that Zacharia worked to expand business interests in North Korea. This is him stating, in his official biography on his employer’s website, that he did so.

During that period, North Korea was under a slew of sanctions by both the United Nations and the United States — bans on the import and export of certain goods, frozen assets, travel bans on certain figures, restrictions on cash transfers. In fact, by 2016, just about any U.S. business in North Korea was banned. Just what business was Zacharia expanding in North Korea? What teams was he building? It’s possible there are no legal or ethical problems here. But then again, no outside firm does any work inside North Korea unless the downright tyrannical North Korean government wants them there, and that work benefits the regime in some way.

For what it’s worth, former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said the job of White House press secretary “requires a security clearance with an FBI background check. Or at least it used to.”

From the Center for Presidential Transition’s webpage for those seeking to work in a new administration, regarding background checks and security:

Having international experience, foreign contacts or financial holdings is not a negative for you as an applicant. However, there could be increased scrutiny because of these activities and any personal connections as they relate directly to the topic of national security. . . .

The end-to-end processing time for the background investigation mostly depends on the type of investigation required and the sponsoring agency involved. Individuals with significant international activity, where records may be harder to obtain, may also experience longer processing times. The completion time for an investigation ranges from 30 to 180 days, with an average of about 60 days. After the investigation is completed, there still can be considerable time needed for an agency to adjudicate the results and obtain other information to make a final determination.

Considering how quickly Zacharia was hired, it is extremely unlikely that she went through the traditional FBI background check for someone in her position, who would have access to considerable sensitive information — details of the president’s schedule and travel — if not classified information.