After declaring April the “Month of Eradicating Illegal Behavior,” North Korea’s Ministry of State Security has begun cracking down on illegal behavior in the border areas. Since then, many people have been arrested and are undergoing interrogations.
As more cases have surfaced of people in the border regions paying others to contact people outside the country using Chinese cell phones, the Ministry of State Security has warned that such behavior will be severely punished. These measures appear to be aimed at preventing people who have made contact with the outside world from becoming disaffected with the regime.
In short, the regime’s actions suggest that North Koreans who charge fees to call people outside the country are no longer viewed as mere lawbreakers, but as a serious threat to regime stability by undermining internal cohesion and public commitment to state ideology.
Daily NK recently interviewed a resident of Chagang Province to learn about the mood in the China-North Korea border region and the restrictions imposed on people by the provincial state security bureau following the Ministry of State Security’s declaration of the “Month of Eradicating Illegal Behavior.”
Daily NK (DNK): Are there still a lot of brokers nowadays who charge fees to connect North Koreans with people in other countries on Chinese mobile phones?
There were a lot of them at the beginning of the year, but in April and May, they’ve all either been arrested or gone underground.
DNK: We’ve heard that the Ministry of State Security has been cracking down on anti-socialist and non-socialist activity after defining April as the “Month of Eradicating Illegal Behavior.” How many people were caught in the dragnet?
From April to mid-May, the Chagang Provincial State Security Bureau conducted a rigorous crackdown on illegal activities along the border with China, using tips from the public and equipment that detects mobile phone signals. About 30 people were detained in April and May for charging people to make calls to the outside world using Chinese cell phones, and are currently being held in detention for joint interrogation by the provincial state security bureau and the Ministry of State Security. People who charged two yuan or more per minute for illegal phone calls were immediately detained through tips from the public and various types of investigation.
DNK: How would you describe the 30 or so people who were arrested in the latest sweep?
Most of them are from the Chunggang, Chasong, Wiwon and Manpo areas. I’ve heard about ten of them were family members or relatives of state security agents who had purchased Chinese cell phones from state security agents who had confiscated the phones from the public but then held on to them instead of destroying them. The brokers had then paid ongoing bribes to state security agents and operated with their tacit approval. While some 30 people have been arrested, a number of compromised state security officials have also been called in for questioning by ministry investigators.
DNK: What kind of punishment will they receive?
The provincial state security bureau has announced that anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior will be severely punished. Individuals who threaten the socialist system are expected to face harsher legal punishment than ever before under the Reactionary Ideology and Cultural Rejection Act. After being detained for questioning by the provincial state security bureau, they’ll be handed over to the provincial police. Depending on the outcome of that investigation, they’re likely to receive the harshest possible prison sentences. A woman in her late 20s who made the most money this year by calling other countries on a Chinese cell phone is currently under intense questioning by the Ministry of State Security. She’s being treated as a spy and her actions are deemed too suspicious to be turned over to the police for normal criminal proceedings.
DNK: How have the arrests impacted state security organizations in regions of Chagang Province that aren’t on the border?
This came as a shock to state security departments in other parts of Chagang Province. Border access restrictions and public surveillance in areas such as road and rail travel, checkpoints, and lodging have become much stricter in the province. The Ministry of State Security sees this as a perfect opportunity to radically strengthen border security initiatives and has promised to restore order along the border with China.
DNK: What is the response from locals? What’s the mood like around there?
While many people in Chagang Province see these measures as unavoidable to protect the state, the fact is that the Ministry of State Security’s harsh measures have increased tensions. But since many of those arrested aren’t ordinary civilians, but relatives or friends of state security officers – the very people who are supposed to enforce these rules – people see the incident as a way to expose the state security agents. Some people ask how state security agents can hold anyone else accountable when they’re guilty of so much more wrongdoing themselves. Since corruption and misconduct among state security agents have been exposed in the border region, the mood in the local community will probably be affected by how the Ministry of State Security and the provincial state security bureau respond to questionable activities within their own ranks.
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June 03, 2024 at 08:00AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)