Following a request from the Chinese
government urging North Korea to stop jamming phone signals near the border
regions, North Korea responded with a monetary demand in exchange for
its cooperation.
“The cell phone jammers in
Yanggang Province near Hyesan have frequently also blocked mobile calls
made by Chinese citizens on their side of the border. This prompted the
Chinese government to request last year that the North refrain from jamming
cellphone signals to which the North tossed back a request for a huge amount of
money,” a source in China who is familiar with the issue reported to Daily NK on January 25th.
A source in Yanggang Province confirmed
this development to Daily NK.
Recurring complaints from Chinese residents in the border region to their government played a significant role in compelling China to put pressure on its neighbor. Disgruntled citizens on the Chinese
side, tired of deteriorating mobile phone function, wanted answers as to “why they should have to suffer too” from authoritarian measures the North Korean authorities impose on their people.
North Korea’s request in this case is not
without precedent. In 2013, the North’s demands for cash in the face of
pressure from its neighbor to pull the plug on the jamming gear met with success.
Almost three years on, however, the scope and efficacy of the technology employed to seal off the border went from nuisance to insurmountable problem for Chinese
residents in the affected areas.
“At the end of 2015, there were complaints
that Chinese residents in those areas were largely reliant on their landlines
to make any calls at all; their cell phones were rendered impotent by the
signal jamming from North Korea,” the source said, explaining that this led to sarcastic
remarks from many of them that “one would be better off just buying a North
Korean phone and using that instead.”
She added, “North Korea took the money in
the last case and obviously never turned off or dismantled the jammers per the
agreement; the regime really has no choice but to keep them going [fearing the ramifications of a free flow of information]. So, instead, they demand exorbitant amounts of money while continuing to do what they’ve always done.”
But this time around China has decided to take
matters into its own hands, swiftly turning down North Korea’s outlandish
request and installing cell towers equipped to counteract North Korea’s jamming equipment. The source described the sudden tough response from North Korea’s strongest ally as
“unexpected,” considering that China had “anticipated compliance from North
Korea on the recent request.”
“Because the construction of a new tower of this sort means that anyone with a Chinese phone on the North Korean side of the
border will also be able to make international calls relatively freely, the
North Korean regime is reacting very sensitively to the prospect; this situation is going to be a troublesome one,” she concluded.
