The patience of the North Korean people is apparently being sorely tested by diverse new and strengthened regulations enforced for the recently-launched “150-Day Battle,” and complaints against the authorities are getting louder as a result.
A source from North Korea reported to The Daily NK on the 20th, “Since April, when the decree launching the 150-Day Battle was handed down by the Central Committee of the Party, resident mobilization orders have been increasing in number, and regulations have also been strengthened. Therefore, grievances about this situation are growing, but improved productivity is nowhere to be found.”
According to the source, state control of private trade and population migration are getting more intrusive, and people’s lives are being seriously hindered.
The source revealed, “Numbers of Community Watch Guards, who check the belongings of passers-by, have gone up, in addition to the strengthening of regulations by the People’s Safety Agency. In street markets and the yards of apartment complexes around the jangmadang, checks by plain-clothes agents of the People’s Safety Agency have dramatically increased.”
In each district of Pyongyang, the People’s Safety Agency has selected three or four of their criminal associates and organized them into regulatory groups. Since May 5th, these regulatory groups have reportedly started harassing residents night and day. They check up on people suspected of anti-socialist activities and send them to the People’s Safety Agency. During this process, they steal money from the accused.
The source concluded wearily, “People say that after the 150-Day Battle, there will be a 100-Day Battle to follow. National mobilization for the construction of the Heecheon Power Plant in Jakang Province is also rumored to be starting soon.”
