A North Korean resident has had two toes amputated after contracting frostbite and gangrene while serving prison time. The resident was arrested by the Ministry of State Security unit in Kimhyongjik County, Ryanggang Province for making international telephone calls. The gangrenous infection spread to his hands, feet, legs, bones, and fat tissue.
“The resident, a male in his forties, was living in Koup-ri in Kimhongjik County,” an inside source from Ryanggang Province told Daily NK during a telephone conversation on January 17. “He was caught engaging in a phone call with his daughter, who was in China. German-made mobile detection equipment was used to track the man. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) arrested the man on espionage charges for calling South Korea [even though he was calling China], and transferred him to the county-level MSS.”
Since coming to power, Kim Jong Un has strengthened crackdowns on access to outside information and communications with foreign persons. A few years ago, an order was handed down urging agents to “rip the roots out from the illegal phone calls.” Since then, state of the art detectors from Germany have been deployed in the border regions. Some of the individuals apprehended have been taken to political prison camps.
The mobile detectors can track targets down to within three meters of the signal location. Those who make calls to foreign countries like China for longer than five minutes are thus in danger of being arrested on the spot. The man who was arrested during this recent incident was taken in for a similar offense five years prior. At that time, he was calling his daughter in China to ask for money.
“After being transferred to the Kimhyongjik County MSS, the man was put in a freezing cold room that had frost on the walls. Then he was interrogated,” the source explained. “The man’s toes began to freeze, but the MSS offered no medical care, instead torturing the man and demanding that he confess to calling South Korea.”
When asked what the interrogation process entailed, the source explained that “the phone that the MSS confiscated had a call log showing calls to China. But the MSS wanted to charge the man with espionage [and coerce him to admit to calling South Korea], so they continued to interrogate him and tried to trick him.”
He added that over the course of 13 days of grueling torture and interrogation, the man lost consciousness and contracted frostbite but “was finally released, as the MSS are only allowed to hold suspects for 13 days without charge.”
But the man’s pain did not end there. After getting released, he sought treatment for the frostbite and discovered gangrene on two of his toes, which had to be amputated immediately. A separate source in Ryanggang Province explained that the man’s story soon spread throughout the county, causing residents to express unease and dissatisfaction.
“The man’s wife was informed that if his two toes were not amputated at once, the infection would spread, and his leg would need to be cut off. Hearing the shocking news, the woman went to the Kimhyongjik County MSS and complained,” the second source said.
“She went to the front gate of the reception room and screamed, ‘If my husband becomes handicapped, you will be responsible for it!’ She also threatened to complain to the central authorities.”
The County MSS office ended up giving the family a small amount of compensation for the hospital bill and consolation. However, both sources reported that this did little to stem criticism among those with familiar with the incident.
