A North Korean teacher in Chongjin was accused of “destroying state property” in June 2026 after inspectors found a minor scratch on a tablet computer in the classroom, according to a source in North Hamgyong province.
The source told Daily NK that shortly after rice transplanting concluded in early June, the provincial education authority and the National Intelligence Agency, North Korea’s primary domestic security organ, jointly launched inspections of equipment at schools across the province. The reviews focused in particular on electronic devices such as computers and tablets.
At one senior middle school (the equivalent of a high school) in Chongjin, inspectors examining the latest-model tablets found a hairline scratch on the screen of one device. Initially believing it was a smudge, they attempted to wipe it off before determining the surface had been physically scratched.
The inspectors treated the damage as a failure to properly manage state property and escalated the matter, turning on the teacher responsible for overseeing educational equipment. The teacher explained that only one or two tablets were available for the whole class, that students all wanted to handle them, and that the scratch had likely appeared through repeated use. The explanation was not accepted.
Ideological pressure over a scratch
Rather than taking the circumstances into account, the inspectors used the incident to discipline not just the teacher in question but other staff members as well, the source said. The apparent intent was to send a warning about the strict management of school equipment.
The teacher was singled out as a target of a struggle session, a formal political criticism meeting used in North Korea to publicly denounce individuals deemed to have committed ideological or administrative failures. The teacher was required to stand before colleagues, submit to criticism, and read out a written self-criticism.
Beyond the public shaming, the teacher was also told to personally bear the cost of replacing the scratched tablet with a new one.
The source expressed frustration shared widely among teachers in Chongjin and beyond. Schools in North Korea routinely lack adequate equipment, with the costs of supplies frequently passed on to teachers, students, and parents rather than covered by the state. “The computers weren’t even provided by the state,” the source said. “The schools pooled money from teachers and students themselves to buy them, and now they’re being put through all this.”
The source added that teachers are already stretched beyond capacity, going to school to teach children despite receiving inadequate rations. Acquiring even one or two tablets had been an enormous burden, the source said, and now the teacher faces the additional pressure of replacing one at personal expense. “The state talks about an education revolution,” the source said, “but there is outrage that it would go after teachers’ livelihoods over a single tablet.”
Reporting from inside North Korea
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June 15, 2026 at 06:59PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)