Yanji, China — It is reported that the inspector-director of the Hamheung People’s Safety Agency of South Hamkyung Province was executed on January 10 for leaking investigation records on a drug dealer and covering up the related drug case.
A source from North Korea said on February 22, “The inspector-director of the Safety Agency in Hamheung has been accused of covering up and being complicit in the drug dealing case of the former head of Geomunsan Trading Company, who was executed on December 8 last year for drug offenses. On January 10, the inspector-director was executed in secret in the presence of party cadres and his fellow security agents.”
The source said that the inspector-director took a bribe from the head of the trading company. In return, the inspector-director did not only wink at the briber’s drug dealing activities but also leaked the internal information on Hamheung Safety Agency’s inspection activities to the briber. The inspector-director is also reported to have taken huge amount of bribe from other parties on the condition to release such as murder suspects or individuals arrested for defecting from the country.
“Hamheung is the country’s largest drug producing and trafficking center,” remarked defectors now living in South Korea. Since 2005, the authorities have continued to launch surprise inspections by the inspection unit against anti-socialist activities from the central Party to crack down and prosecute those party cadres who accumulate wealth through illegal means.
The aforementioned Geomunsan Trading Company is a company responsible for making foreign currency, which is under the Second Economic Commission in charge of independent military economy, and has branch offices in Pyongyang, Nampo and Hamheung.
In the mean time, the source reported that a secretary of a primary Party of the Hoiryeong custom house in North Hamkyung Province was arrested by the provincial security agency on February 5 and is currently being interrogated.
“The secretary was arrested after the director of the Hoiryeong custom house who had been interrogated by the security agency for bribery confessed their wrongdoings,” the source said. “They took a bribe from some Chinese residents on the condition that they block the entry of other Chinese merchants into the country so that the bribers could monopolize the commercial traffic between North Korea and China. In addition, they allowed the bribers to smuggle drugs and foreign films into the country.”
It was reported that a huge amount of Chinese Yuan and US dollars was found in the director’s place when he was arrested in the late December last year.
“Initially, the director resisted the investigation thinking that he would be fine because he comes from a good family background and has connections within the Party. However, Kim Jong Il who heard of the director’s case called for a thorough investigation into the matter and punishment. Thereupon, the director confessed everything about his deed out of fear, which led to the arrest of his subordinate,” the source said.
As the authorities continue to inspect the Hoiryong custom house, the traffic of Chinese merchants has been decreased in the Hoiryong area and accordingly the price of Chinese products has increased, the source said. For instance, the price of rice in the Hoiryong market has once gone up to a high of 1,800 won/kg. The source said that the livelihoods of local people are being adversely influenced by the ongoing inspection.
“Since January the 20th this year, the inspection unit against anti-socialist activities from the Party in Pyongyang has been carrying out its inspection activities in Hoiryeong. Moreover, an advanced party of the People’s Safety Agency’s inspection unit arrived to the city on February 18, which further heightened the tension in the city,” the source said.
