[imText1]Dandong, China — On the 23rd of last month, six households were expelled from Haesan City in Yangang Province for the reason of “their families having fled to South Korea” and 25 households were simultaneously expelled under the charges of illicit trade along the North Korea-Chinese border, a North Korean inside source relayed on the 5th.
The source said, “6 of the 152 who were arrested at the inspection which was carried out from August to October of last year by the ‘5 divisions combined Anti-Socialist Inspection Group’ received a long-term prison labor camp sentence for the reason of ‘having secret communication with family members who defected to South Korea. When their sentence was confirmed, the expulsion of the rest of the family members ensued.”
The “5 divisions combined Anti-Socialist Inspection Group” carries out the duty of regulating the inspection of anti-socialist elements by temporarily transferring people and organizing groups from five organizations, such as the Party, the Central Procurator’s Office, the Central Court, the National Security Agency, and the People’s Safety Agency.
During this inspection, 152 people who possessed cell phones and are related to crossing the border were rounded-up, 50 received a long-term prison labor camp sentence, and 100 received a labor training corps sentence. Also, 25 households with charges of illegal trade along the North Korean-Chinese border and owned foreign films were expelled, which made a total of 31 households who were forcibly expelled.
According to the source, the North Korean authorities who were surprised by the inspection results of the Anti-Socialist Group formed the second group on December 19th and unfolded a concentrated investigation of cell phone possessions and connections to families who defected to China and South Korea in Hyesan, after having considered the gravity of illicit acts of civilians in the Yangkang Province border region.
The 31 households who were expelled were those who were detained in the first inspections which began in August, 2007 and another mobilized expulsion took place in the dead of the night under the order of the second-round Anti-Socialist Group.
The source relayed, “Those who were detained in the first-round of inspections mostly owned cell phones and were people who smuggled with Korean-Chinese people in China. The 2nd Anti-Socialist Group newly cast suspicion on receiving money from South Korean National Intelligence Service and handing over North Korean internal information.”
The Party committee of Hyesan, with the expulsion approaching, mobilized a general meeting per each people’s unit and gave the following order to civilians, “The people who are expelled are all relatives of the traitors who betrayed the country and are traitors who have sold our national secret. We must not help or sympathize with those who have participated in treasonous acts.”
Those who were purged were driven to a farmland far away from the border region without any means of basic survival and were forcibly moved to abandoned homes of those who had starved to death during the “March of Tribulation” or had become beggars.
The Party committees of the farming village held a meeting of farmers before the arrival of the expelled families and gave the order of “Those who are expelled are family members of those who committed ‘treasonous acts,’ so we must not help them.”
The source added, “The 31 households who were expelled were a part of the first round of purges and after February 16th (Kim Jong Il’s birthday), the number of households who will be expelled will increase. The cadres and Chinese emigrants who were detained in the first round of inspections were excluded from this expulsion.”
