Following the recent defection of 13
restaurant workers, North Korea’s State Security Department has ordered an
emergency dispatch of surveillance personnel to China to conduct ideological
surveillance and stringent assessments of its employees and officials overseas.
Meanwhile, back at home, some cadres are distressed about the personal
consequences they could face if workers abroad (with whom they are associated)
stray from the Party line.
On April 11, Daily NK spoke with a source
in Pyongyang who confirmed these reports, adding that the emergency dispatch of
dozens of censors to Shenyang was intended to strengthen surveillance and that
the previous SSD surveillance unit heads who were tasked with ensuring that
dispatched workers and management keep within state-sanctioned ideological
bounds are being replaced without exception.
“The SSD agents who were unable to stop the
defection of this group are under investigation for negligence, and there is
currently debate over the possible step of increasing the number of SSD
personnel in charge of surveillance of overseas workers in order to
preclude a recurrence of recent events,” the source explained.
The implications of the group defection are
weighing heavily on cadres tethered to trading companies at many levels who
have dispatched workers to their overseas branches. These concerns have made
their way higher up the chain of command as well; cabinet officials are
recalling workers from overseas, fearing the loss of their positions if anyone
under their remit is targeted for reprisals emerging from the group defection.
“Cadres who had previously wanted their
children dispatched overseas are now concluding that even if they’ve already
paid the bribes necessary to get their children a relatively lucrative post
abroad, it is better to keep them behind in the North. Many have canceled
active applications so as to avoid attracting attention that could result in
dire consequences,” the source added.
According to a separate source in
Pyongyang, this is because the 13 who defected were all children of Party and
administrative cadres affiliated with the unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in
Pyongyang, a pyramid-shaped monolith that is also the world’s largest abandoned
building. They had been working overseas for a number of years to earn and
remit foreign currency to the leadership for the ultimate stated goal of
procuring the necessary materials to finally complete construction of the
hotel.
For a while, they were earning good money,
but following the latest round of sanctions imposed by the UN, a period of
unusual difficulty was encountered. “Rumors are already flying in Pyongyang
that the Party secretary, managers, and other units connected to the
Ryugyong Hotel and its overseas funding component will not emerge unscathed,”
the source added.
