In her interview with Daily NK, recent defector Lee Geum Sil went into more detail about the phenomenon of deteriorating cadre loyalty and rising corruptibility, saying that since Kim Jong Eun became leader the depth of corruption in the security services has become even more apparent than it was under Kim Jong Il.
“As time passes, the loyalty of cadres wanes further and further,” Lee explained. “The NSA [National Security Agency] guys just say that ‘the Marshal [Kim Jong Eun] is targeting everyone, whereas we only exploit some people’. That’s how it is, and so people resign themselves to treating it as if it were a tax to the state.”
“People see cadres as these beings who know they won’t be punished for taking bribes thanks to their links to the Upper [the ruling elite],” Lee went on to claim. “More and more people think that North Korea is a ‘cadre’s paradise,’ or a place where ‘the higher you rise, the more wealthy you become’.”
Four other recent defectors were interviewed for the production of this exclusive set of Daily NK interviews, and all said that time is having a deleterious effect on public perceptions of the Kim Jong Eun regime. All noted repeatedly that a North Korean citizen is forced to act in opposition to state directives just to survive.
The former driver, Kim Gwang Sik explained, “Social controls have been strengthened and ‘Public Order Patrol Teams’ are there to deal with illegal behavior. In a lot of cases they bluntly state that they won’t punish you if you give them something. They actually welcome being told to step up public order because it gives them the chance to demand more.”
Hwang Byung Ho, the laborer in his 60s, said, “Everyone knows that if you are in public surveillance with the NSA or on one of the ‘gruppa’ [public order teams established for specific tasks], then a year spent getting bribes from your work really eases your circumstances. The officers who should be controlling illegal grasshopper traders also take bribes to turn a blind eye to market activity.”
Teacher Ko Un Sook said that in order to beef up propaganda about the superiority of the system, the authorities have also been appointing school teachers to a propaganda role. One such person is in charge of conveying the Party line to five families. They also have to report on the activities of the people.
Ko said, “These elementary and middle school teachers acting as propagandists even have to give lectures to local co-operative farmers. If they come across a suspicious person or fellow teacher, policy states they must immediately report it.”
