As North Korea urges the public to adopt a “law-abiding spirit” to help instill the rule of law, many complain the law is more often used as a tool of control.
A source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK recently that cities and counties throughout the province have been holding public lectures about the North Korean constitution and major laws since Constitution Day on Dec. 27.
The regime has used these lectures to emphasize the need to “actualize an ideology of framing people-centered laws” and to describe the constitution as “a powerful weapon for rejuvenating the state and establishing social order.”
But North Koreans attending these lectures have responded unfavorably to the focus on law-abiding spirit.
“This emphasis on obeying the law is presumably designed to highlight that our country operates under the rule of law. But the reality is that people are often controlled and punished not by the law, but on the whim of police officers and state security agents,” one person remarked.
According to the source, the regime has been sending local people’s committees and party bodies more material explaining legal requirements than in the past and organizing occasional lectures stressing establishment of the rule of law.
Party bodies, people’s committees, and branches of social organizations like the Women’s Union and Youth League have been holding study sessions scrutinizing provisions of the Constitution, as well as laws about criminal reporting, broadcast signal management, exclusion of reactionary thought and culture, electric power, and prevention of “non-tax burdens.”
Laws perceived as control mechanisms, not protections
But North Koreans point out that study sessions about these laws have little to do with protecting their rights or stabilizing their standard of living.
“The laws are supposed to protect not only the system but its members as well. But in actuality, they’re just a list of things we’re not supposed to do. That makes them feel more like tools for controlling individuals’ lives,” the source said.
And while the government emphasizes law-abiding spirit, it’s rare for the law to be followed to the letter, leading to what many describe as distrust in the law.
“If legal prescriptions were followed, people ought to be protected by laws enacted by the state. But in reality, the law is only mobilized to police and punish behaviors,” the source said.
“Behaviors that, under the law, ought to be handled with a fine or disciplinary labor are sometimes punished more severely—with imprisonment or banishment—because of political framing. It’s hard to trust the law when you see people shipped off to remote areas simply for watching a little Chinese television,” the source added.
North Koreans are also unhappy that victims of theft, robbery, and assault are hardly ever protected by the law, while suspects who happen to have political influence often avoid legal punishment.
“The state’s recent emphasis on compliance with the law is widely regarded as being aimed at more strictly controlling the public. Everybody is tired of attending lectures about how to obey the law,” the source said.
January 13, 2026 at 12:47AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)