Daily NK Snapshots are synopses of select articles from our Korean website. Snapshots provide a window into Daily NK’s reporting and into everyday life and society within North Korea.
Electricity Theft Rampant Among Border Guards, Perpetrators Face Punishment
A number of border guard units in North Pyongan Province are facing punishment for electricity theft. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, North Korea has maintained additional border security forces to keep its international borders sealed. Surprise inspections carried out by the North Pyongan Province Electric Power Oversight Agency uncovered over 100 cases of electricity theft by border security personnel. The cases included instances of meter tampering as well as installations of unauthorized power lines and high-capacity transformers to distribute, and in some cases sell, more than the allotted amount of electricity for a given unit or facility. Officers and soldiers also took batteries and devices at the request of residents to charge at their places of work. The North Pyongan Province Party Military Commission has indicated that responsible units and individuals will be punished severely for stealing electricity intended to support border security operations. Provincial authorities are also taking the opportunity to emphasize that any unauthorized use of electricity will be treated as theft and to promote the use of electricity meters.
Full Article in Korean by Jeong Tae Joo here.
Tokchon People’s Committee, Ministry of Social Security Team Up to Inspect Local Markets
The People’s Committee and Ministry of Social Security in Tokchon, South Pyongan Province conducted surprise inspections of local markets throughout the city over four days at the end of last month. The inspections were carried out under the pretext of gathering information on market conditions and involved checking to see that prices were stable, taking inventory of the variety of goods for sale, and confiscating state-manufactured goods being sold without authorization. Confiscated items included foodstuffs such as packaged doenjang and vinegar, soy sauce made using chitosan (a preservative), and MSG. People caught selling such items were also banned from the markets for a month and will have to conduct their business elsewhere. Residents claim that the city often raids local markets during times of economic difficulty, but this latest crackdown was unprecedented in its speed and scope. Authorities are also looking into which state-operated factories are illicitly selling goods to market vendors.
Full Article in Korean by Jong So Yong here.
Defectors in China Fear Arrest, Deportation
Defectors in China are anxious amid rumors of increased arrests and even repatriations back to North Korea. Some defectors were recently arrested due to suspicions that they were involved in human trafficking. Rumors are circulating that, after this incident, Chinese public security authorities have been hunting down defectors to arrest them and send them back to North Korea. Word is also spreading that some defectors have already been caught and that all defectors currently in Chinese prisons will be repatriated to North Korea. Amid these circumstances, some defectors have cut off communication with their friends and family and others have even gone into hiding. One defector suggested that Chinese security forces are cracking down to deter the increasing number of defectors trying to get to South Korea now that the COVID lockdown has ended. Concerned about potential consequences for their families back home, many defectors give up on immigration to South Korea and decide to live in China instead. The current crackdown has left them with no safe place to live.
Full Article in Korean by Lee Chae Un here.
Kim Il Sung Dropped from Anti-Japanese Class Studies Curriculum for Independence Movement Day
North Korea conducted a variety of anti-Japanese class studies* activities for Independence Movement Day on Mar. 1. However, students found it strange that content emphasizing the central role of Kim Il Sung in cultivating anti-Japanese sentiment and striving for national liberation was omitted from the curriculum this year. State enterprises, chapters of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League, and universities each held lectures and debates based on a curriculum distributed by the state. The curriculum covered atrocities and efforts to annihilate the Korean language perpetrated by Japan during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. It also claimed that Japan has refused to recognize its past crimes, apologize, or make amends; stressed that Japan is the mortal enemy of the Korean people; and emphasized the need to strengthen class education so that young North Koreans do not forget the brutality of Japanese Imperialism and their ongoing struggle with it. After the study sessions, most students pointed out that in previous years these lectures began by praising the revolutionary accomplishments of Kim Il Sung, as well as his father and grandfather, before moving on to issues of class struggle. This year, however, that content was absent.
*”Class studies” refers to ideological education in North Korea intended to cultivate hatred of and resistance against the “exploiting class” of imperialist and capitalist countries like the United States and Japan.
Full Article in Korean by Jong So Yong here.
Summaries by Nick Seltzer. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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