North Korean authorities in April ordered people living near the Chinese border to dress neatly and mind their behavior along the riverbank, according to Daily NK sources, apparently in response to a rise in Chinese nationals filming North Koreans across the water and sharing the footage online.
A source in north Hamgyong province told Daily NK that in mid-April, instructions were relayed through neighborhood watch unit meetings in Hoeryong city and Onsong county, both of which border China along the Tuman River. The neighborhood watch unit, known in Korean as the inminban, is a state-run grassroots surveillance and administrative body through which Pyongyang transmits directives to ordinary citizens at the household level.
The instructions conveyed at those meetings included: avoiding being photographed by Chinese nationals who frequently film across the border; maintaining clean and tidy clothing at all times; and refraining from unsanitary behavior near the Tuman River.
“Supply water and we won’t need to go to the river”
The orders reflect a longstanding reality in North Korea’s border regions. Unreliable tap water supply means that many people living near the Amnok (Yalu) and Tuman rivers routinely go to the water to draw water and do laundry. During spring, summer, and autumn, when the rivers are not frozen, riverbank activity increases substantially. The source noted that it is not uncommon for people to relieve themselves there as well.
North Korean authorities appear to view footage of these scenes as a threat to the state’s image abroad, prompting them to tighten control over border residents’ conduct rather than address the underlying infrastructure problems.
That calculation has not gone over well with those on the receiving end of the orders. Some people pushed back openly, asking why they should be the ones to worry rather than the Chinese doing the filming. Others were more pointed: “If they supplied water properly, we wouldn’t need to go to the river in the first place.”
A second source in Hyesan city in Ryanggang province, which borders China along the Amnok River, confirmed that similar instructions had been issued there through neighborhood watch unit meetings. That source noted that orders telling people not to bathe or relieve themselves in the Amnok River had been issued in the past and had included warnings that those caught on Chinese cameras could face punishment. The issue had quieted down for a period but has recently resurfaced.
The Hyesan source was direct about the disconnect between the directive and the reality it addresses: “It is not that people’s clothing is untidy by choice. They wear worn-out clothes because life is hard.” Telling people struggling to get by to fix their appearance first, the source said, is a demand that ignores reality entirely.
Sources in both areas pointed to the same underlying problem: authorities are focused on managing the image projected to the outside world while showing no interest in improving the actual conditions that drive people to the river in the first place. As the Hyesan source put it, issuing orders and tightening controls will not solve the problem. It only covers over a wound that has already festered.
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what’s happening inside one of the world’s most closed societies.
April 27, 2026 at 03:10PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)