Chinese authorities have identified a North Korean man as a suspect in the recent murder of a Chinese man in Changbai Korean Autonomous County, Daily NK has learned.
A source in China told Daily NK last Wednesday that “on July 18, a man living in a village in Changbai was stabbed to death in his home during an armed robbery. Police are determined to find the culprit and initially offered a reward of RMB 100,000 [around USD 14,000], which they have since raised to RMB 230,000 [approximately USD 32,277].”
Police have increased their presence in the mountains, on the streets, and in small villages in the surrounding area in an effort to catch the perpetrator. They have also announced that anyone who reports or catches the culprit will receive a cash reward.
In addition to pictures of the culprit captured on CCTV, Chinese police have released a description of the perpetrator’s potential identifying characteristics, including that he is a “man around the age of 30, approximately 160 centimeters tall with long hair and a relatively thin build, who swings his arms side to side when he walks.”
The authorities believe that the perpetrator is from North Korea. They say that the North Korean man crossed the Yalu River into China and threatened a local resident before killing the man when he refused to hand over money, the source explained.
“Some North Korean men living in the China-North Korea border region steal for a living. Before COVID-19, thieves occasionally killed their victims in the rush to avoid getting caught, which seems to be why the police believe the suspect is a North Korean man.”
The police have dispatched a significant number of personnel into the mountains out of the belief that the man fled to the mountains after the crime. Police have warned residents to exercise caution and not enter the mountains in groups of less than three in case the culprit is hiding in the mountains still armed with the knife used in the murder.
“Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese police have strengthened surveillance of North Korean defectors living in China, but after this latest incident, surveillance of defectors will likely get dialed up a notch further,” the source said.
One defector living in China told Daily NK his thoughts about the impact the incident will have on defectors in the country: “If it turns out that the perpetrator is North Korean, then the surveillance and crackdowns against other defectors like myself will get worse. I fear it will become difficult to even set foot outside.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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