Four students at a high school in Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, were recently punished for sexually assaulting their headteacher back in March, Daily NK has learned.
“In April, four high school students living in Chongjin’s Ranam District were sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for drugging and sexually assaulting their headteacher,” a source in the province told Daily NK on May 23.
In March, the teacher had brought students from her class to the school to protect school assets. The students gave her a drink laced with sleeping powder before sexually assaulting her. The teacher did not report the incident to the school as she feared it would damage her reputation, the source said.
The students continued sexually harassing the teacher after the incident. “Every day, the students would wait for the teacher in an alley on her way home from work. They would harass her, saying ‘Let’s be friends!’ and ‘Let’s go to a motel!’ and even threatened to spread rumors at school if she didn’t respond positively [to their demands],” the source said.
The teacher eventually reported the students to the Ministry of Social Security in Chongjin, which immediately arrested the students and launched an investigation.
During the investigation, the students confessed that they “decided to sexually assault their teacher after watching pornography together,” the source said.
Just a month after they were arrested, the Ministry of Social Security sentenced them to 10 years of hard labor, he added.
Article 15 of North Korea’s Criminal Code stipulates that minors between the ages of 14 and 17 who violate the law are subject to “social education.” In this case, however, the North Korean authorities appear to have imposed a more severe punishment given the nature of the crime, which included the gang rape of a teacher and consuming pornography, behavior that is classified as “anti-socialist and non-socialist.”
“The authorities intend to make young people aware that ‘anti-socialist’ and ‘non-socialist’ acts will be subject to harsh punishments,” the source said. “In order to eradicate bad behavior among students, the authorities appear to be emphasizing moral education while also intensifying crackdowns on the consumption of impure materials.”
Article 29 of the “anti-reactionary thought law,” which was adopted in Dec. 2020, stipulates five to 15 years of correctional labor for those who “consume or possess pornographic recordings, or books, photos or drawings that ‘preach superstitution.’” Those who have produced or distributed such materials face life in prison or even execution.
“Three of the students who received punishments are children of high-ranking officials in the provincial or municipal governments,” the source said, adding, “The parents were dismissed from their positions as they were accused of being irresponsible with educating their children.”
Translated by Vilde Olaussen. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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