Cadres trade on heightened surveillance

In the midst of recent reports that Kim
Jong Un has ordered users of Chinese-made mobile phones to be labeled as
traitors and punished accordingly, the North Korean authorities have been
stepping up public crackdowns. However, while the state is increasing its
surveillance of the population in light of the “200-Day Battle,” Party cadres
are using the opportunity to solicit bribes, Daily NK has learned. 

“With the start of the ‘200-Day Battle,’
agents from both the Ministry of People’s Security and the State Security
Department are restricting the movements of itinerant merchants during the day
and cracking down on mobile phone usage during the night,” a source from North
Hamgyong Province told Daily NK in a telephone conversation. “But these agents
are openly requesting bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to whatever
illicit activities they discover.”
 

“The agents are carefully analyzing
patterns of illegal activity during these crackdown periods because it’s a good
way for them to make money for themselves,” the source explained. “People who
have no connections, no money, and no power end up being pawns for these agents
to fill their own pockets.”
 

The abuse of power by these agents is said
to flow from higher ranking cadres. Although they quote official orders to “completely uproot espionage,” such slogans are immediately followed by
indirect requests for bribes via suggestions of “a birthday or special
anniversary” coming up.
 

State security agents are said to blackmail
residents systematically and with individual quotas in mind. After receiving
such payments, cadres use the money to offer payments that flow upward in the
leadership hierarchy, and in this way the crackdowns ultimately benefit the
regime. Some agents have openly stated they wish there were more Chinese mobile
phone users to apprehend, the source said.
 

What makes the situation even more trying
for residents is the fact that agents willingly accept bribes and offer
preferential treatment in return, but also report on those same people when
results are demanded from their superiors.
 

“Some of the agents will share information
about when other agents will be operating, what time they’ll be using signal
detectors, and other such information in exchange for bribes,” a source in Ryanggang Province explained. “But as soon as they hear surveillance will be taking place from
central [and therefore senior] bodies, they turn on the people and report them,
sometimes even for alleged offences they have not even committed.”


Residents have likened the situation to a battle for survival, and note that
the immense risk in placing illegal phone calls means it can only be justified
if it directly ties in with their livelihoods.