According to local sources, North Korean
authorities have recently begun carrying small, German manufactured radar
detectors when patrolling near the Chinese border for the purpose of monitoring
international phone calls made on Chinese-made cell phones.
These intensified measures follow a
proliferation of stationary detectors installed in North Hamgyong Province in
conjunction with enhanced wiretapping technology, as previously reported by
Daily NK.
On September 14th, Daily NK staff spoke
with a source in Yanggang Province who confirmed that recently, personnel from
a number of different security organs including the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry
of People’s Security, and the State Security Department, have formed a
‘gruppa,’ or public order teams established for specific tasks, specifically
for the purpose of cracking down on overseas phone calls. This unit patrols day
and night using the small radar detectors to pick up on cell phone signals
calling overseas.
An additional source in Yanggang Province
confirmed these developments.
In the past, the majority of sensors
used for enforcement were carried in bags but the new radar detectors from Germany
are small enough to be carried in a pocket, the source said, noting, “Before this, citizens who were wary of being caught would simply avoid any security officers toting bags. With the new devices, many people will see officers without
bags and assume it is safe to make an overseas phone call–then they get
caught.”
Previously, citizens knew that the radar
monitors carried by officers would lose power, rendering officers unable to
detect phone calls; however, the new, small radar detectors are rechargeable,
making pinpointing and punishing all the easier for security agents to execute.
Moreover, as the number of citizens watching
South Korean dramas and films on their cell phones has increased, the crackdown
has become more severe, according to the source.
“Members of the task force, whether they
are from the SSD or the MPS, are blindly rounding up citizens and searching the
stored contents of their phones. If they find any South Korean songs, videos,
or other materials the authorities deem ‘sensitive,’ the offender is arrested
right then and there,” he said.
Despite the increase in and intensity of
crackdowns, the appetite for South Korean dramas and films remains large and
ever expanding, especially among university students. Because many students
sell this type of media for a living, it is difficult to stamp out the problem
at its roots.
“If you do a bit of digging to find out how
those who are getting caught are obtaining this media, you will almost always
discover a university student or son or daughter of the elite at the bottom of
it. Because it is the same all the way up at Kim Il Sung University, everyone
says it will not be easy to punish those responsible,” the source concluded.
*The content of this article was broadcast
to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.
