Even though the North Korean state is trying to take greater control of smuggling on its northern border, it is still common for those caught in the net to escape punishment through bribery.
A source from Yangkang Province told Daily NK on the 20th, “They’ve stepped up the crackdown on border smuggling, but the people who get caught are still not getting passed on to the NSA for punishment. On more and more occasions money is being openly demanded as well.”
“Of course, in the past bribes were demanded by border guards, too, but recently this kind of action has grown more overt than before,” the source added.
According to the source, often it is high-grade cigarettes or alcohol that are demanded, and only occasionally money. This is because if soldiers are found to have taken money the punishment may be more serious, while products such as cigarettes or alcohol are punished more lightly.
“The soldiers don’t report people to the NSA, and tell them that ‘it would be best if this ended cleanly with us right here,’” the source went on. “When the products are foodstuffs they take them. Second-hand clothes and such like cannot be worn by the soldiers, but they might ask me to sell some of them, or give them to family as a present.”
“Even though they are dressed in military uniform, they’re no different to robbers,” the source concluded. “They’re not a people’s army; if you call them a gang of thieves you’re spot on.”
