Yanji, China — A North Korean inside source relayed on the 16th that the North Korean authorities have been dealing with the frequent occurrence of violent crimes such as murder and theft in the border region with an extreme recipe of “shooting.”
The source in Yangkang Province said in a phone conversation with the “Daily NK,” “In Bocheon in Yangkang Province on April 8th, two brothers-in-law were shot under the charge of robbing and murdering a couple who was setting out on bundle sales.” The men who were shot were known to surreptitiously sell nonferrous metal goods, including average copper, to China.
Also, one discharged soldier was shot at Bumpo-ri in Samsoo, Yangkang Province on March 28th and two farmers were accused as accomplices, so they were sentenced to two years of reeducation camps.
The source explained, “For two years, they stole five cows that belonged to the neighborhood collective farm and stole and sold two privately-owned cows and pigs at a jangmadang.”
The source further relayed, “Nowadays, the number of shootings has increased significantly, so people are not even surprised. Even when the sound of gun shots can be heard, the number of felonies has not been decreasing, so law enforcement workers and citizens are all worried.”
A source in North Hamkyung Province said in a phone conversation with the “Daily NK” on the 15th, “On April 6th, one man was arrested for murdering his wife and hiding her body in Eundeuk, North Hamkyung Province.”
On October 10th of last year, Park (49), who was arrested for the charge of murder, killed his wife with a blunt weapon during a verbal fight while in an inebriated state and abandoned her body in a kimchi warehouse (an underground storehouse for preserving kimchi).
Park, after divorcing his first wife, remarried, but due to a morbid suspicion of his wife, experienced constant discord. Park, after hiding her body in the storehouse, reported that his wife was missing to the People’s Safety Agency. The People’s Safety Agency held back investigations by suspecting a defection to China due to the fact that Park’s wife had relatives there.
Park’s crime was disclosed by a neighborhood man who had taken advantage of Park’s inebriated state and infiltrated into his house on the night of the 5th to steal goods. The man broke the lock, entered the kimchi storehouse, and upon discovering a blood-stained gunny bag, moved it to his house while mistaking it for pork. When he discovered the body inside the bag, he immediately reported it to the People’s Safety Agency and Park was arrested. North Korean citizens dig underground caves and use them as storage houses in order to preserve kimchi or side dishes during the winter season.
The source relayed the recent condition in North Korea, “The number of violent crimes such as murder has been increasing since several years back, so the public sentiment has been filled with alarm. People nowadays are busy making a living, so the world has become a place where people do not see each other.”
