North Korea’s state security agency has issued a directive to border guards and civilians, urging a “vigorous struggle” against the spreading of rumors as part of broader efforts to tighten internal controls.
A source in North Korea told The Daily NK on Sept. 6 that the Ministry of State Security last month had the political department of the border guard command distribute explanatory materials titled “Let’s Vigorously Carry on the Struggle Against the Act of Spreading Rumors” to all officers, soldiers and civilians under the command’s jurisdiction.
The materials stressed the poisonous effect of unfounded rumors circulating in the country and the dangers they pose to the North Korean regime and reiterated the need to take stern measures against such rumors.
The documents said that such rumors are “dangerous poisons that paralyze people’s healthy revolutionary attitudes and cause them to defect from the Workers’ Party and the masses” and called on the people to join the struggle against the spread of such rumors.
“The hostile groups such as the U.S. imperialists and their South Korean stooges regard the continuing revival of the DPRK as a thorn in their flesh and are sparing no effort and resorting to all kinds of dirty tricks to obstruct our progress. One such trick is to spread various rumors in the country,” the directive said.
In short, the materials claimed that spreading rumors was a scheme by hostile groups to undermine the regime.
Order details harsh penalties for rumor-mongers
The documents outlined specific punishments for spreading rumors, citing two key laws. Article 306 of the Administrative Punishment Law imposes penalties ranging from fines to three or more months of disciplinary labor. More severely, Article 251 of the Criminal Code targets those spreading rumors that could cause social chaos or undermine trust in the state, with sentences ranging from disciplinary labor to ten years of hard labor imprisonment. These legal references underscore the regime’s view of rumor-spreading as a serious offense.
This shows that North Korean authorities are intensifying their crackdown on information from outside the country, treating such content as criminal rumors that could potentially undermine regime unity.
“The laws will be used even more aggressively against rumors about the supreme leader’s private life or family history. There are fears that people’s lives will be ruined because of a single misspoken word, and that people will be branded as ‘impure elements’ and face severe punishment for a slip of the tongue,” the source said.
“The state keeps trying to block the flow of information from the outside world with its usual threats and directives. But as rumors continue to circulate, the regime is now trying to silence people altogether. The directives issued today contain more warnings about legal regulations than in the past.”
Meanwhile, the materials urged that “we should always pay attention to people who pride themselves on knowing more ‘new information’ than others, and those who are quick to spread whatever they hear to others. We should educate and criticize them to correct their bad habits.” They also encouraged self-reflection, criticism, and voluntary confession, stating, “Those who have created or spread even minor rumors in the past should voluntarily go to the Workers’ Party organization and confess honestly.”
Study sessions and lectures based on these explanatory materials are scheduled to be conducted throughout the month of September.
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 11, 2024 at 06:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)