In an attempt to prevent inside information from spilling outside the country, North Korean authorities are using lectures to threaten against those who receive money for leaking intel beyond the borders. However, the lectures are actually stimulating rather than stymying further interest in the practice, Daily NK has learned.
“Recently, the lectures have been mentioning the fact that the number of people using contacts in China and South Korea to trade information for money is on the rise. The lecturers even indicated the exact amount that the information traders can receive: approximately 5,000 RMB [750 USD],” a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on July 25.
“This is causing residents to discuss the possibilities– ‘Well, if I make just one or two calls, then I can earn enough capital to start a small business in the jangmadang [market economy, official or otherwise]’. In addition, some residents are remarking on their luck, saying, ‘We had no idea about this opportunity, but thanks to the regime, we’ve caught wind of it.’”
Source in Ryanggang Province and South Pyongan Province corroborated this news.
Recently these conversations are often overhead at construction worksites or farms, where residents have been mobilized to forced labor. Many envy those with connections to outsiders and the profit possibility for placing a single phone call.
For their part, “wholesale runners [regional circulators]” are spreading the word that the market for selling information to foreigners is growing throughout the country. The source pointed out that between the lectures and word of mouth the expansive nature of this market has even caught the attention of North Koreans alienated from links to the outside world.
The lectures, aimed at installing regime loyalty and ideological purity in the residents, would likely be the most innocuous manifestation of the regime’s efforts to combat an uptick in residents seeking external links. But, according to the source, any stringent follow-up measures in the offing are unlikely to turn the tide.
“The authorities will continue to try to track down those who interact with the outside world, but they will struggle to achieve their goal of sealing the border. Case in point, the State Security Department invests massive amounts of time and energy into blocking contact between defectors and their left-behind families, but they have struggled to net results,” she concluded.
