North Korea has recently seen an increase in illegal hunting and foraging, as well as smuggling game and herbs out of the country or selling them on the black market. This has prompted North Korean authorities to warn that such activities will be strictly monitored and prosecuted.
“On Sept. 6, the Ministry of Social Security sent orders to all provincial police bureaus to crack down on illegal hunting and foraging and the illegal export and sale of wildlife and herbs. These orders were then distributed to North Koreans through various organizations, businesses, local government offices and neighborhood watch units throughout the province,” a source in North Korea’s Kangwon province told The Daily NK on Sept. 14.
The Ministry of Social Security informed the Central Committee about a sharp rise in incidents of illegal hunting and foraging and the illegal export and sale of wildlife and herbs this fall based on reports from provincial police bureaus, and received the Central Committee’s approval to issue the orders to crack down on the practices, the source said.
“While illegal hunting and foraging always increase in the fall, this year there has been a marked increase in people looking for herbs and fruits to smuggle into China. Employees of companies tasked with earning foreign exchange for government construction projects, as well as private citizens whose livelihoods have been destroyed by severe flooding, have taken to the forests,” the source said.
According to the source, the Ministry of Social Security made it clear in the orders that it will crack down on illegal hunting of wild animals and foraging for wild berries, herbs and seeds, and will severely punish anyone caught doing such things.
“The Ministry of Social Security considers these illegal acts to be contrary to the state’s policy of turning all the country’s mountains into rich havens of national resources. The ministry intends to protect the state’s resources by severely punishing those who make illegal use of forest resources and will continue to monitor and punish such violations in the future,” the source said.
To underscore the importance of these orders, Kangwon province’s police bureau told a story about employees of a store in Wonsan who were under investigation after being caught setting traps for wild animals. The shopkeepers, who had obtained a permit from the Land Management Bureau of the province’s people’s committee to collect a plant called Epidemium koreanum, had also been unsuccessfully searching for other herbs, berries and seeds not covered by the permit.
The provincial police bureau is trying to intimidate citizens by warning that the Ministry of Social Security intends to severely punish illegal hunting and foraging, as well as the illegal export and sale of items gathered from the forest, and will severely punish any individuals or organizations that condone or collude in such efforts.
“Considering that local party committees and government organizations are openly using state resources to earn foreign exchange, it’s obvious that punishment is reserved for those who sneak into the mountains because they are struggling to make a living. Once again, only the underprivileged are being made to suffer,” the source said bitterly.
The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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September 23, 2024 at 12:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)