The Secretary of a Party cell (who generally has the duty of managing and controlling five members of the Party) belonging to a branch office of the People’s Safety Agency (PSA) in Suman-district, Chongjin, was dismissed after being accused of receiving bribes, after which he apparently stole the gun from the Chief of the office of the PSA in retaliation, resulting in the detention of many related officials and the cancellation of a portion of events celebrating Kim Il Sung’s birthday on April 15th.
A source from North Hamkyung Province told the whole story in a phone conversation with The Daily NK on the 6th, “On the 14th of last month, the PSA office Chief’s gun, which contained eight loaded shells, went missing. The branch office of the PSA in question is the one at the Chongjin Chemical Textile Factory in the Suman-district of Chongjin. The gun was eventually found, but agents of the PSA office and officials were taken to the National Security Agency and Sun’s Day (Kim Il Sung’s birthday) events were cancelled.”
One Mr. Choi, the Chief of the branch office of the PSA at the factory, had been participating in a meeting for Kim Il Sung’s birthday events organized by the provincial Party committee, leaving the gun in his desk drawer. After returning to the office after lunch and discovering that the gun had been removed from the drawer, he began asking questions but could not track down its whereabouts.
When the situation appeared to be getting serious, the Chief reported it to the People’s Safety Agency of North Hamkyung Province, the office of the Chongjin PSA, the provincial committee of the Party and the National Security Agency of the Province.
With one day remaining until Kim Il Sung’s birthday, the North Hamkyung Provincial Party and the judicial authorities which had registered the gun theft incident declared a state of emergency. In North Korea, when Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s birthdays approach, a “special lookout period” is declared and the atmosphere becomes extremely solemn. The provincial Party not only mobilized factory employees and Workers and Peasants Red Guard members in Sunam-district, but even searched the sewers near the factory.
The agents of the PSA who conducted the investigation, after checking the identities and the belongings of passersby in local alleyways, moved to detain anyone under the slightest suspicion and conducted in-depth investigations.
The source relayed more, “As a result of mobilizing even the Workers and Peasants Red Guard members and inspecting everyone coming and going, rumors started spreading throughout the city. However, with the rumors differing from the actual events, there was great confusion.”
According to the source, false rumors such as “Armed thieves appeared and attacked the armory of the People’s Security Guards at the textile factory,” “A PSA office was attacked and all the weapons were stolen,” and even “With a special command to destroy the Great Leader (Kim Il Sung)’s statue, a special attack unit of the South Korean National Intelligence Service was dispatched.” In addition, other associated rumors were heard, such as “The South Korean special attack unit, which had been being chased by the NSA, escaped through the sewers in the Suman-district.”
As a result of the unchecked rumors, even the Kim Il Sung birthday commemoration events which had been planned for the 15th fell through. In North Korea, all citizens have to visit a statue of Kim Il Sung and pay their respects by laying flowers on his birthday, but NSA agents surrounded the Kim Il Sung’s statue in the Pohang-district of Chongjin and solemnly cordoned off the area. The citizens, surprised at such a sight, deduced that there had been suspicious armed fellows trying to disrupt the Kim Il Sung birthday events, so they did not even approach the statue and, ultimately, all events which had been organized for the day were cancelled as a result of people not showing up.
Ultimately, the incident was resolved on April 25th when the Central Prosecution and the National Security Agency began to conduct an investigation.
The perpetrator was identified as a Mr. Han, the Secretary of a branch office of the PSA at the textile factory who had been discharged for the crime of corruption and graft three months previously. Mr. Han hid the gun in retaliation against the textile factory manager and the Chief of the PSA office, who had reported the incidents of corruption to upper management.
In North Korea, if weapons such as guns go missing, then any visits by high-level officials to the region are cancelled and vigilant regulations are enforced. Also, heavy punishment falls on the official(s) in charge.
The aftermath of the incident was significant. With Mr. Han exposing the corruption and graft of other officials at the factory during the investigation process, the Chief of the office, the factory manager, the factory secretary, the factory storehouse manager, accountant and even the guards who had been on duty on the day of the incident were detained.
Even the fact that the factory officials colluded with the Chief and secretly sold factory equipment and resources in order to prepare funds for drug sales was inadvertently revealed.
The source relayed the local atmosphere, “Due to the gun theft incident, the atmosphere is grim in Chongjin. Those who have been caught for the investigation by officials from Pyongyang are exposing the misdeeds of others, so every official in the Suman-district is afraid.”
