Having raised its military readiness posture on the 30th of last month, the North Korean authorities have been following up with lectures emphasizing the need to remain vigilant.
A Hyesan-based source told Daily NK on the 4th, “The authorities are having every agency and enterprise hold daily lectures on the subject of the state of emergency, and keep ordering people to maintain their level of mobilization. In the lecture held on the afternoon of the 4th they said that the current readiness status means that martial law applies, and therefore all people must take an active part in community actions.”
In fact, martial law does not apply in the current situation; it only applies in a state of war. Therefore, it is unclear if this was an empty warning designed to elevate societal tension, or if the authorities actually plan to enforce martial law.
According to the source, the lecturer even went on to claim, “Six countries including the U.S. and South Chosun voted to declare war against us for our recent satellite launch. Their excuse is that we are threatening the world with our nuclear weapons, and using that as a justification for the sanctions against us.”
However, the source said that the effort to instill fear and tension in society is having only limited effect. People have experienced this type of situation many times before, and where once it would have been an effective social glue, people’s diminishing trust in the words of the North Korean authorities are undermining the effect in the modern day.
“People here already know that the [joint ROK-U.S.] military exercises are going on in the peninsula, but they’ve never invaded us before so it is unlikely that they would do so now,” the source pointed out.
