Of late, the North Korean authorities have been sending people en masse to construction projects in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of the “150-Day Battle,” and work places and labor-training camps have seen a sharp increase in protests against the authoritiesโ unfair treatment as a consequence.
North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity (NKIS) issued its publication, โNorth Korean Society,โ on the 27th. It reported, โIn a provincial labor-training camp located in Dongheung-district, Hamheung, South Hamkyung Province, a camp inspector, who was also a manager in the Department of Justice of the Peopleโs Committee, was killed by inmates.โ
Meanwhile, โIn Hoiryeong, North Hamkyung Province, 18 prisoners in a labor-training camp, in the process of being mobilized for construction work, beat managers, tied and gagged them and then escaped.โ
In one other case in Chongjin Steel Complex, Chongjin, North Hamkyung Province, 40 workers and managers, including an engineering team manager, have had to concentrate on their private businesses and not their work at the Complex because they have not been given any food by the factory since June.
According to the publication, in a public trial held in Shinuiju on May 23 the authorities declared that spreading domestic stories through mobile phones or digital cameras is a serious crime and that citizens who commit such crimes will be severely punished. They apparently stated, โSuch moves are definitely anti-state crimes and are unforgivable.โ
It added, โThe North Korean authorities had mostly been exposing espionage cases involving foreign powers, but this year they have been focusing on domestic hostile activities.โ
