North Korean state security operatives along the border with China are
embroiled in a round of secret searches of residential homes and have begun
using up-to-date bugging technology as part of efforts to restrict the
cross-border movement of information and people, sources report to Daily NK.
One source from North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK on the 7th, “When I
came home just a while ago I found the whole place turned upside down. I don’t know
who did it, but it had been searched.”
“First I thought that a thief had gotten in, but absolutely nothing was
taken,” the source went on to explain. “A number of photos were scattered on
the floor, though, and my heart sank when I knew that I’d been secretly searched.”
According to the source, the North Korean security forces’ modus operandi
is usually to enter and search homes quite openly and at random, for instance when
checking for illegal residents or the presence of illicit CD and DVD recordings.
However, recent searches in the local area are said to have taken place in
secret, and since residents are uncertain what is being sought many have grown fearful of falling foul of the state.
The source further alleged that the authorities have been making use of
up-to-date bugging technology to maintain civilian surveillance. He explained, “A
few days back, someone from my neighborhood was arrested by the State Security
Department. Apparently they’d bugged her house without her knowing and she got
caught phoning someone in South Korea.”
North Koreans, especially in the border region, are accustomed to dealing
with the technology that the authorities use to tap phone conversations, and act
with care to avoid getting caught. However, the source said nobody
is prepared for bugging equipment located under linoleum flooring or elsewhere
in their homes. “Who would know if there was a bug attached to their
transformer?” he asked.
Ordinarily, when accusations of a political nature are received or
uncovered, the Department of State Security uses local collaborators, of whom
there are many, to gather evidence using miniature recording devices. However,
this evidence suggests extensive usage of up-to-date bugging technology as
well.
A Yangkang Province source provided anecdotal evidence in support of the
information from North Hamkyung Province, revealing news of “recent people’s
unit meetings attended by officers from the Ministry of People’s Security in
which they ordered anyone who has used a Chinese cellphones to turn themselves
in” before announcing, “Since we have recordings of all calls to South Korea or
China, now is the time to arrest illegal callers.”
Sources say that when added to the ongoing usage of advanced cellular
signal detectors along the border with China, just the possibility of a bug
installed in one’s home makes it hard to build trust, not only with friends and acquaintances but even family
members.
