Ministry of State Security blackmails children to catch defectors in China

According to reports from inside sources, North Korean intelligence operatives are now recruiting the children of defectors to earn foreign currency and extend surveillance efforts to capture defectors. 
The North Korean government is recruiting children to work in criminal operations. One such scheme involves recruited children to pretend to be women on chat applications to blackmail people they interact with through the apps. Agents of North Korea’s security and intelligence body are manipulating the children into performing this work for them by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities.
The intelligence operatives are also asking children to report on the movements of defectors in China. Children have the advantage of arousing less suspicion, and the information reported is used to aid in missions to arrest defectors in China.
“As soon as the children of defectors are caught, they are forced to participate in operations conducted by the intelligence agencies,” said an inside source in China during a telephone call with Daily NK on August 11. “The Ministry of State Security (MSS) agents promise to take the children to South Korea if they agree to earn money and work for them.”
“When the children settle in, they are employed in operations to assist with tracking and arresting defectors,” she said.
These same methods of manipulation have been employed in the past against North Korean residents who overstay their visas in China. Many residents overstay their family-visit visas in China, and these individuals are vulnerable to threats and manipulation by the MSS.
“Those who overstay their visas have to pay a hefty fine, which makes them highly susceptible to threats by the MSS. Residents in China on these kinds of visas are starting to become aware of the danger and are increasingly on guard,” the source explained.
“When this doesn’t work, the MSS entices the residents with offers to aid their defection to South Korea. They use recordings of these conversations, audio or text, as blackmail to get them to cooperate. The residents often end up with no choice but to do whatever the MSS demands,” a separate source in China with knowledge of the matter said.
Due to the prevalence of these types of schemes, he said, North Koreans are unable to trust each other when in China.
“The same sort of mutual surveillance that has been used in North Korea for a long time is being put to use in China. But people are nonetheless astonished that even children are being recruited for the operations these days,” he concluded.