A senior official from North Korea’s Ministry of State Security was recently executed on charges of leaking state secrets to a Chinese trader, Daily NK has learned.
“The official was arrested for providing a summary of internal ministry documents to a Chinese trader and sentenced to death on Nov. 1. The execution was carried out immediately,” a source in North Korea told Daily NK recently.
The official who was executed held the rank of colonel, went by the surname Cho, and was in his 50s. He oversaw the overall guidance and inspections for the 31st Border Guard Brigade within the Border Security Command.
According to the source, Cho was arrested by the Ministry of State Security this past March on charges of giving Chinese traders an SD card hidden in contraband containing internal documents from the ministry, which were categorized as first-class and second-class secrets. Cho had allegedly transmitted the documents during his trading activities with China while ostensibly inspecting a unit of the 31st Brigade in North Pyongan province.
“The background of Cho’s arrest isn’t exactly known, even inside the military. Various possibilities have been raised, such as that the state security department in the 31st Brigade was tipped off or a Chinese national in North Korea provided incriminating information. But the Ministry of State Security said that Cho confessed to selling state secrets for money during questioning and that execution is the fate of every traitor,” the source said.
News about the official’s execution was given in back-to-back “emergency lectures” on Nov. 6 and 7 for department heads at the Ministry of State Security and for department heads at the command posts of the 25th Brigade (in Ryanggang province), the 27th Brigade (in North Hamgyong province), the 29th Brigade (in Jagang province) and the 31st Brigade (in North Pyongan province), all border guard brigades under the Border Security Command.
These lectures disclosed Cho’s identity and rank and stated that he had been executed for espionage because the secrets he had provided to Chinese traders had been then leaked to South Korea, which North Korea now regards as a hostile state.
Execution underscores regime’s determination to weed out security threats
Following the lectures about Cho’s execution, a grim mood has settled over officials at the Ministry of State Security and the border guard, the source said.
The execution of such a high-ranking official is thought to underscore the Ministry of State Security’s determination to beef up internal security and harshly combat security threats following the recent amendment of the North Korean constitution to define South Korea as a hostile state.
“The lecture emphasized the urgency of fully reviewing the safety of state secrets and measures to ensure those secrets aren’t leaked. Officials say this is the first internal probe at the ministry to be addressed in such detail since the execution of Jang Song Taek. They regard it as signaling sweeping punishment of anyone who has profited financially from selling secrets to China,” the source said.
“Officials say the incident goes to show you can’t trust your peers in state security departments because anybody could be watching you and ready to stab you in the back. They say this underscores the fact that people nowadays should watch what they say and do and keep an eye on each other.”
Amid the high level of vigilance inside the ministry following Cho’s execution, more inspections are likely to be held to test security at the ministry, the source added.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
November 19, 2024 at 07:35AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)