The scene of separated family reunions, held yesterday for
the first time in 3 years and 4 months. Families from North and
South, reunited amidst floods of tears. Yet some look on with sharp eyes. These are agents from the North Korean State Security Department. Though they are, of course, disguised as staff.
Their main task: surveillance. Just as North Korea generally watches its citizens’ every move, so these agents survey what separated family
members say and do upon meeting family from the South. North Korea is reticent to take part in
such events because Pyongyang fears that South
Korea will learn of its systemic weaknesses as a result.
Defectors say that North Korea regards meetings with South
Koreans as tantamount to engaging with
the enemy, so the State Security Department dispatches anti-espionage personnel to watch over the reunions. Of course the North Korean photographers
are agents, but so are the guides, waiters, and waitresses as well.
This veritable army of overseers listens in on conversations between families. Prior to the
reunions, reunion participants are “educated” on what not to say. Each room where reunions take place is bugged. When things
get underway, agents are posted everywhere to observe whether North Koreans behave according to the guidelines they have been given, and
whether they do anything that might be prohibited. Naturally, they are on the look out for people surreptitiously passing over information.
After the events are over, agents hold one-on-one self-criticism
sessions with participants during which they discuss what attendees did right and wrong. Those
who spoke well of the Supreme Leader and regime are praised, while those who
did not face a dressing down.
One high-level defector with experience in the security
forces told Daily NK on the 21st, “We installed bugs at every table
and instructed people beforehand that ‘we will be able to hear it all so don’t say
anything odd.’ This makes people watch their words and incorporate propaganda about the system into every sentence.”
52-year old defector Kim Mi Soon agreed. “I heard from a
neighbor who was once part of the reunions that she constantly praised the
regime because she had been told to do so by the State Security Department, but
then all she heard from them afterward was that it wasn’t enough.”
