More stolen mobile phones are being traded in North Korea¡¯s black markets, resulting in a surge of thefts to meet the growing demand for such handsets from people in the country, according to a source from Daily NK. 

¡°There are a lot of pickpockets on the train who target mobile phones, and they¡¯re usually faster than (well-trained and skilled) special forces in the military, so more people are being stripped of their handsets,¡± the source based in South Hwanghae Province reported on Wednesday. ¡°A lot of them are teenage kkotjebi [homeless children who often beg for food] or soldiers who have been discharged. They can figure out who is carrying expensive goods just by looking people¡¯s bags, and they¡¯ll use the opportunity during meals or temporary power outages on the train to steal the mobile phones."

Mobile phones fetch at least 300 USD on the black market, spurring an ever-expanding industry of people involved to procure as many as possible--much to the misfortune of others. Once the devices are lifted from unsuspecting individuals they are passed off to middlemen charged with getting them out in the marketplace.  

¡°Because of their high price, the number of pickpockets and brokers is on the rise,¡± said the source. ¡°People try their best not to lose their phones, but with so many people determined to steal from them, the numbers are definitely not dropping."

Handsets lifted in this fashion are sold in the black market for much cheaper prices, which is why consumers are drawn into buying them. However, in some cases, the mobile phones are identified as stolen items down the line, and the new user is pinpointed as the thief, according to the source. 

He cited a recent case wherein one man in his 40s was caught buying a stolen handset and sent to a labor training camp for punishment. Officials with the Ministry of People's Security [MPS] tracked down the phone signal of a missing handset owned by a cadre with the Central Party, and it led them to the man living outside of the city. He was assumed to be the thief and punished accordingly. 

The "Pyongyang" model handsets are branded with the device number F107, while those coined the "Arirang" use F104. The device and phone numbers enable officials to swiftly track down the location of the device. ¡°This is why people who know about the tracking devices sometimes don¡¯t carry around their phones--that way they don¡¯t have to worry about being followed,¡± he explained. 

The Party cadre dispossessed of his handset claimed it was stolen while he was on the train, leading the officials to use these details to pin the crime on the alleged transgressor. The source, however, reported that the accused was entirely unaware of the phone's origins--he simply bought it at an electronics stall at the market for 400 USD. 

The male in custody refuted the allegations of theft, arguing that the officials should find the real thief. Unfortunately, these efforts proved futile: he was eventually shipped off to a labor training camp.

In an alarming number of cases, there is no investigation into stolen devices despite a deluge of reports flooding the MPS, "but if Party cadres report lost phones, officials track the devices down so they can be acknowledged for 'producing results,'" he concluded.

*The contents of this article were broadcast to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.