Government monitoring and control of North Korean workers in Russia is intensifying more than ever. As military, economic and diplomatic cooperation between North Korea and Russia deepens, North Korean and Russian intelligence agencies are said to be working closely to prevent defections by North Korean workers.
In this context, authorities have recently begun confiscating workers’ cell phones, which once served as a window to the outside world, and forbidding workers from leaving their dormitories after 7 PM. They have also ordered workers to monitor and report on each other’s outside contacts.
Even the the overseas workers training subsection (a nonpermanent organization) of the Overseas Counterintelligence Bureau at the Ministry of State Security has updated video material shown to workers before they go overseas to warn them of the dangers of inappropriate contact with outsiders and leaking information.
After much effort, Daily NK interviewed a North Korean worker in Russia to reveal the current atmosphere in Russia and the situation facing North Korean workers in the country. To protect his safety, his name, age, region of deployment or any other information that could identify him or when or how he was contacted has not been revealed.
Please find the full interview with the North Korean worker below.
Daily NK (DNK): What have recent lectures been telling workers?
They continue to stress that the outside world is working like mad to slander North Korea and that we mustn’t communicate with anyone from the outside. They also continuously beat into our brains how we mustn’t tip off the outside world, emphasizing that it’s treason against the state.
DNK: We’ve also heard they confiscated all mobile phones owned by workers.
They tell us to turn them all in and that they’ll forgive us if we hand them over now. However, who is going to take that seriously? People just don’t use the phones anymore to avoid punishment. At times like this, I just have to conceal my phone.
DNK: Has surveillance grown much more severe recently?
They’ve really upped the ante. I’ve heard there’s also an organization for spying on one another. So it’s natural that workers can’t trust one another.
DNK: Has anyone been caught for contacting the outside world, especially for tipping off anyone about labor conditions?
I haven’t heard anything. I think they are intensifying internal surveillance because making a big deal publicly could disgrace the nation. If they make a big deal about things, then laborers will know they can talk about their problems with people in the outside world. That’s why the regime has ordered officials not to make things too public.
DNK: Has pressure from security agents grown worse?
Security agents seem concerned that this isn’t North Korea but a foreign country, and the workers outnumber them. Even when they hear people openly criticizing the state, they try to hush things up as much as possible to prevent incidents from arising in the organization they are responsible for.
DNK: Do you think the workers have grown bolder?
How did we get here? We left North Korea after a difficult process. Everyone is a bit different, but workers all have different ways of thinking. However, on the outside, we have no choice but to pretend we’re loyal to continue earning money overseas.
DNK: You can of course earn money, but aren’t you exploited just as much?
That goes without saying. Some people put it boldly, saying things like, “How can the state raise its quota daily and tell us to pay?” “Are we foreign currency slaves who came overseas in debt to the state?” or “If we’re unhappy, we can just take the money we’ve earned and run off.”
DNK: How effective will the regime’s intensifying surveillance and control over workers overseas be?
The regime looks set to respond boldly to problematic situations. However, will workers simply sit still? I think workers are planning things suited to their location and researching ways to enjoy freedom by escaping state surveillance. I want to let the international community that plenty of workers are stirring the pot.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
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May 20, 2024 at 07:30AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)