Following North Korea’s expansive crackdown on illegal mobile phone calls being placed to other countries – namely South Korea and China – some 30 residents of North Hamkyung Province’s Musan County have been arrested.

“One or two minutes after you switch on your phone and start talking, security agents with detectors show up. So you’re putting your life at risk when you make calls to other countries,” a source based in North Hamkyung Province told the Daily NK on Wednesday.

“When they started the crackdown early in September, lectures were held telling people that they would be forgiven if they turned themselves in. But those who did have been sent to labor training camps, so people are more on edge about it,” she went on to explain. “Some who felt that would be exposed because they brokered money transactions have turned themselves in, but they still received punishment."

This punishment comes in myriad forms--some more severe than others. Residents caught making cross-border calls are slapped with a 10,000 RMB fine [roughly 1.3 million KPW] by provincial security department officials, according to the source. If exposed for acting as a broker aiding the flow of remittances into the North, a one-year sentence to a reeducation camp is handed down, leading many to feel increasingly apprehensive--despite the opportunity to turn profits--about taking up the constant stream of remittance-related requests pouring in.

To reflect the heightened risk factors involved, some brokers are requesting a 50 percent cut from the total sum from their customers, as opposed to the previously standard 30 percent, but even so, the source reported the boost has done little to secure enough people, willing to work in such a perilous climate, to meet demand.

Yangkang Province is reportedly much the same. “The crackdown on illegal phone calls had led to so many arrests that there are not enough cells to hold them at the security departments,” a source based in the area said. “Those who have managed to evade the network of surveillance as of now will probably still be restless as they ring in the New Year.” 

“In unannounced crackdowns, smugglers and phone users already on the security department’s list were arrested in groups,” he went on, explaining that under duress, these detained individuals generally exposed a number of other people involved, hoping to mitigate the potential repercussions. 

Information on the punishments of those caught in the wake of the sweeping crackdown spread quickly among residents, quick to adjust their activities to avoid the same fate. “There was even someone who made one phone call and was sentenced to three months at a labor training camp,” the source elaborated. “The security agents seem to be determined to show people that there will be no forgiveness this time and ensure no one ever tries to make phone calls again.” 

For those who have been arrested, offering bribes or getting out on bail by feigning illness are oft-employed methods to stave off further punishment, the source said, adding that those people are still subjected to daily monitoring by security agents. Still, this is far more favorable than remaining in custody and enduring physical beatings during the interrogation--so much better, in fact, that many find ways to borrow money to post bail [if possible] or use as bribes. 

Drawing from a pool of experience in this and similar matters, residents are prepared to tread cautiously for the foreseeable future. “This year, at year-end self-reflection gatherings among work groups and the Chosun Democratic Women’s Union, the issue of making phone calls was the primary topic of discussion,” the source said. “Some smugglers who were weeded out from wiretaps managed to circumvent dangers by offering up their handsets to security officials, but that definitely doesn’t mean they can completely let their guard down.”