North Korean authorities have initiated a major crackdown on Chinese phone users in North Hamgyong province, deploying state security teams to Hoeryong to enforce the ban. The campaign appears aimed at stemming the flow of information across the Chinese border, where people have used Chinese phones to communicate with the outside world.
Hoeryong, a city on the border with China, is home to many people who use Chinese phones for business, either arranging imports or handling remittances from defectors in South Korea for commission.
The dozen or so enforcers sent by North Hamgyong province’s state security bureau will augment the state security agents already monitoring phone signals in Hoeryong to create a team of nearly 30 people who are policing the use of Chinese phones in the area.
The enforcers operate phone signal detectors at various times and locations to hunt down people using Chinese phones.
While dispatching the extra enforcement team, the provincial state security bureau stressed that the project’s goal is to eradicate the practice of delivering money from outside the country to people on the inside.
The North Korean authorities have outlawed the delivery of remittances from South Korea and China and consider that an act of espionage.
The arrival of the enforcement team from the provincial state security bureau is a source of anxiety for Chinese nationals in North Korea with Chinese bank accounts who earn commission on remittances.
The provincial state security bureau also declared that anybody who receives illegal funds from overseas or who engages in related activities will not be able to avoid legal consequences and that state security agents who fail to find offenders will be held accountable.
This last threat has galvanized state security agents to become even more vigilant in their hunt for users of Chinese phones.
Police join crackdown, sparking fear among border residents
In connection with that, Daily NK recently reported that the Hoeryong police department had ordered officers to intensify their search for users of Chinese phones, while offering the incentive of special promotions for police officers with high numbers of arrests.
“Not only state security officers but also police officers are beating the bushes to catch Chinese phone users. With so many state security agents on the case, people are very nervous they won’t be able to avoid detection,” the source said.
“In the past, there were certain spots where police officers and state security officers would use the phone signal detector, so all phone users needed to do was avoid those spots. But now, enforcers carry around portable phone signal detectors, so you never know when you might be caught.”
The regime’s large-scale crackdown on the use of Chinese phones is grim news for many North Koreans who fear their livelihood is in jeopardy.
“People who use Chinese mobile phones and facilitate remittances from overseas aren’t selling out their country — they’re just trying to make a living. Many people struggle to come to terms with why the government is making things so hard for them,” the source said.
North Hamgyong province’s state security bureau plans to continue its crackdown against Chinese phones with the help of the extra enforcement team through the end of the year.
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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November 15, 2024 at 01:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)