The North Korean authorities have yet to identify any leads in the murder of a Preliminary ExaminationAlso referred to as a "pretrial," the preliminary examinatio... More Officer outside his own home in Sunchon, South Pyongan Province. The officer worked for the Ministry of People’s Security’s Inspection Department.
A source in the area notified Daily NK on October 17 that the “authorities believe the state inspector was killed out of revenge, though they have yet to find the killer.”
According to the source, the 32-year-old agent was ambushed after returning home from work outside an apartment block in the Kangpo neighborhood of Sunchon. As the man parked his motorbike, he was struck in the back of the head and later died. The authorities are apparently wary of additional attacks targeting law enforcement officials.
MPS personnel responding to the scene of the crime immediately notified their superiors when they discovered that the victim was an MPS investigator. Attention soon turned to the likelihood that it was a revenge killing, carried out as payback for misconduct by the officer.
“This MPS officer was the most sadistic and brutal of them all. Anyone caught by him was usually beaten half to death, paralyzed, sent to a correctional labor camp, and almost always died within a few years after intense suffering,” the source said.
While judicial and law enforcement officers are widely known for their violent methods and are accustomed to the occasional incident involving a disgruntled person throwing rocks at them, they are treating the murder as an unprecedented act. The authorities consider the murder of a state agent as a “crime against the nation,” and are taking the matter seriously.
Investigators have been digging into the register of citizens that this particular officer was tracking for the 5 years prior to his death, following up with each individual person to understand what they were doing at the time of the murder.
Although the investigation has been expanded to even include those locked up in correctional labor camps and disciplinary labor centers, the authorities still do not appear to have any solid leads.
“The location of the murder was a densely populated area with a nearby market and many potential witnesses, but police have so far not received any cooperation from locals. As far as people’s reactions to the murder, most are actually responding positively and see it as justice having been served,” a separate source in South Pyongan Province said.
“The authorities have been given a wake-up call and are realizing that people will not just sit back as they continue to be mistreated, and that they may in fact fight back against law enforcement bodies. They need to understand why it is that so many citizens would consider attacking those associated with these agencies if war breaks out.”
