Orders allegedly from Kim Jong Un are said
to have been handed down to state security officials to demand the repatriation
of a group of workers who defected in April from a North Korean restaurant in
China, and retaliate against South Korea if the request is not met. The leader
allegedly issued these orders following an outburst of anger upon learning of
the incident, and as a result, North Korean agents are moving to coordinate an
act of aggression against South Korean missionaries and human rights activists
in the border area in China, Daily NK has learned.
“An
emergency order was recently issued to the State Security Department (SSD) in
relation to the mass defection from China last month,” a source from South
Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Monday. “It ordered the ministry to
immediately demand their repatriation from the South and carry out an act of
revenge ‘some thousands of times more serious,’ if the request is not met.”
The source went on to explain that state
security officials, fearing that the incident could have put into question
their competency in managing the workers, reported to the leadership that the
employees were lured into a trap by South Korea’s spy agency (National
Intelligence Service, NIS) working with Chinese traders. Enraged by the claim
that Seoul was involved, Kim Jong Un handed down the orders, questioning state
security officials about how they intended to deal with the problem.
“Following this, young agents from Bureau
15 (anti-espionage) of the SSD and the General Reconnaissance Bureau were
dispatched in teams to China,” the source said. “The ministry is looking to
avoid being held responsible for the mass defection by having their agents go
undercover as traders or North Koreans visiting their relatives in China to
identify South Korean missionaries and activists to enact retribution.”
Tensions have been running much higher in
the Sino-North Korean border area following the mass defection, claimed the
source. In what is believed to be a related incident, a Korean-Chinese pastor
who previously managed the largest church in Changbai Korean Autonomous County
(Jilin Province) and had assisted defectors was murdered by an unknown
assailant. The South Korean government has since asked missionaries to refrain
from visiting the area and remain vigilant for their personal safety.
“We’re not certain yet, but there are
rumors in China that a (Korean-Chinese) pastor was murdered by someone receiving
orders from the North’s state security ministry,” a source in China close to
North Korean affairs reported. “There’s even talk that the ministry is paying
local gang members from China’s southern regions to get involved.”
North Korean state media has been widely
reporting the group defection as a case of abduction by the South, in an effort
to rally support for their repatriation.
“The
SSD has been spreading propaganda that the South Korean NIS
first bought off the restaurant manager, who was saddled with debt, and then
kidnapped the young innocent women,” the source said. “In public lectures, they
invariably include the message that the Marshal (Kim Jong Un) has said he will
use all means and methods to bring them back.”
Despite these efforts, the source added, it
appears that the majority of North Koreans believe the 13 defectors left on
their own volition, especially since the workers had been exposed to the
outside world while working at the restaurant.
