A source says a resident of Hyesan, Yanggang Province, was allegedly beaten to death recently while she was under investigation by the Ministry of State Security.
The death comes as North Korean security authorities bolster crackdowns and punishments regarding the use of Chinese-made mobile phones.
A Daily NK source in North Hamgyong Province said Thursday that a woman in her 30s — identified by her family name of Kim — was taken to the city hospital in Hyesan after she was beaten during an investigation by the provincial branch of the Ministry of State Security.
She died within three hours of arriving at the hospital, however.
Kim had been arrested for using a Chinese-made mobile phone, and according to the source, the roots of the incident go back to the end of last year.
Kim was arrested at the time after she was caught by the Ministry of State Security using a Chinese-made mobile phone. Investigators later discovered records of conversations with South Koreans and lots of photos of North Korea on her phone, and transferred Kim to a detainment facility on Jan. 10.
Every provincial headquarters of the Ministry of State Security has a detainment facility. The authorities generally use them for investigating people accused of espionage.
For example, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, provincial branches of the Ministry of State Security in border regions such as Yanggang Province have been detaining people who were caught using Chinese-made mobile phones with South Korean numbers or text messages, or messaging apps like Wechat or KakaoTalk, regardless of the reason.
Essentially, this means the authorities regard as “spies” anyone caught having a Chinese-made phone with signs of violations against their rules, and intend to punish them accordingly.
From the first day of her detention, Kim was subjected to questions such as, “What kind of information did you turn over to South Korea and how much did you receive in return?” and “What kind of South Koreans did you make deals with?”
Naturally, the Ministry of State Security interrogators did not believe Kim when she answered that she turned over no information, and only received money transfers to survive.
The interrogators then began beating Kim on her head, legs and the rest of her body using a seven centimeter club. This severe beating, the source claimed, ultimately led to her death.
The source said when Kim was taken to the hospital, her arms and legs were a mess. He claimed the Ministry of State Security’s outrages never end, with agents beating confessions out of people caught using Chinese-made mobile phones “as if they were trapping beasts.”
The source further said nobody takes responsibility if a suspect dies during interrogations. On the contrary, agents point to the dead and say, “It’s OK if some bastard who engaged in espionage dies.” He added that over the last couple of years, people consider it “natural” if somebody dies under questioning or investigation by the Ministry of State Security or Ministry of Social Security.
Meanwhile, the Yanggang Province branch of the Ministry of State Security arrested hundreds of people for using Chinese-made mobile phones last year. Most of them are women in their 20s to 40s, and they have been sent to forced labor camps or political prison camps after being interrogated in the ministry’s provincial detention facility.
Moreover, during questioning, detainees have been subjected to endless torture by investigators and guards, including the strappado, electrocution, and exposure to heat and cold. In particular, sexual assaults have reportedly been a regular occurrence.
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