Police turn tensions in their favor

Taking advantage of the country’s
quasi-state of war, previously declared by Pyongyang while inter-Korean
tensions ran high on the border, North Korea’s Ministry of People’s Security [MPS] are said to have
exploited people to pad their wallets. By enforcing nonexistent rules in the
name of looming threats of war, agents have managed to collect more bribes,
Daily NK has learned. 

“In the past, they didn’t restrict people
from going around at night, but after the ‘quasi-state of war’ was issued on the
20th near the border area, officials started to carry out body searches at
night,” a source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Thursday. “People who
got caught would only be able to get away after offering bribes.”
 

This information was crosschecked through
an additional source in North Hamgyong Province.
 

MPS agents, who act as police forces
in the North, would crack down on movements at night. “At a time when the Marshal
(Kim Jong Un) is fighting against the puppets in the South, what do you think
you’re doing at night?” many posed to residents, according to the
source, who added that other intimidation tactics included constant reminders that residents should stay “fully alert at all times” given that all soldiers are “fully armed.” 

Under these conditions, agents saying
“Let’s go to the station,” quickly became code for “hand over money,” said the
source. Some safety officials even admit that the extra crackdown measures are
inevitable, saying they have no choice but to carry them out due to pressure
from higher ranking cadre.
 

Being tasked with monitoring and
controlling residents, MPS forces exaggerated the situation with the South to
ramp up tensions and threaten people to pay up if they do not want to face
penalization, according to the source.
 

“Even in the past, when there were
anti-aircraft drills, people would stay at home in fear that burglars might
break in,” she said. “MPS officers would always come by at these times and
ask for bribes in return for letting people off the hook.”
 

With the ‘quasi-state of war’ now lifted,
the source reported that people are now able to move around freely at night but
brace themselves for the next reason agents will come up to procure whatever bribes they can from the population.

Sadly, this is just a stated fact of life in North Korea, she went on, noting, “Some point out it’s more of a force for bribes than
a military powerhouse.” 

*The content of this article was broadcast to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.