[imText1]The anti-Kim Jong Il movement within North Korea has been brought to our attention in the past 2-3 years.
Following the Huiryeong Anti-regime movement activities, (reported November 2004), a recent testimony traces an incident where “anti-Kim Jong Il slogans were found on the walls of the Grand Theatre in Hamheung on the birthday of Kim Il Sung (April 15) in 2003. As a result, the State Security Agency conducted a general inspection.”
The testifiers, Kwon Sang Ho, (pseudonym, age 25) and his mother, defectors in China who were originally residents of Hamheung, met with The DailyNK on February 2.
Kwon said, “Three slogans were hung on the wall, they read, ‘Kim Jong Il destroyed North Korea’, ‘Open Hamheung as Rajin’ and ‘Reformation and Liberalization is the only way to life.’ The letters were as big as a child’s face.”
”Although there were many incidents such as the samizdat incident and writings on the walls, the slogans were hung only a few days before the birthday of Kim Il Sung, so it was taken very seriously. The National Safety and Security Office also had a difficult time in investigating it,” said Kwon and his mother, Kim.
Following is the conversation with Kwon and Kim in full text.
– Where did the slogan incident take place?
They were found in April 2003, on the walls of the Grand Theatre in Hamheung. Behind the theatre is Eunjung 1-dong, and the slogans had been written on the walls along the main road from Osu Bridge of Sunchun River to the station.
– When and who found the slogans?
The first person who reported it was the people’s leader of Eunjung 1-dong. He found the slogans at 8a.m. and reported it to the State Security Agency, and the officials of the agency covered the slogans with cloth and took pictures of them. It was a few days before the birthday of Kim Il Sung and the Hamheung City Party was busy preparing for the event. The incident was considered a serious one that attempted to destroy the birthday event.
In April, the sun rises at 6a.m. That means for more than two hours people saw the slogans but did not report it. That is because if you report it, the State Security Agency calls you in and make things complicated, so people may have seen it but pretended they didn’t.
– What did the slogans say?
There were three slogans. “Kim Jong Il destroyed North Korea”, “Open Hamheung as Rajin” and “Reformation and Liberalization is the only way to life.” The letters were as big as a child’s face.
– Did they catch the person who wrote the slogans?
How would they be able to in such a big city as Hamheung? Although the State Security Agency took charge of the investigation, it looks like they were not successful. The National Security Agency and the provincial Security Agency formed a joint investigation team and called in all the suspects, including some unemployed in Eunjung-dong, Hashin-dong, Sangshinheung-dong.
There were so many people missing, who had left home during the food crisis, that it seemed quite difficult for them to find out who did it. They were afraid that somebody would write on the Kim Il Sung statue and laboratories so the agency officials were vigilant every night, guarding it during the 4.15 event.
– They did not find out any clues about the suspects?
There is nothing in particular known to people. Looking at how the Security Agency calls in only adults as suspects, it looks like it must have been adults who did it. The height of the letters and the writings look as if it were done by adults. It appears to be done by some adults who are unsatisfied with Kim Jong Il.
– I heard that the (common) people are quite unsatisfied. How many unsatisfied people are out there?
Since the food crisis, the people started to run their own businesses saying, “if we trust in Kim Jong Il, we will all die.” After the 7.1 Economic Measure, the high increase of price, most of the people could not run good businesses. They were forced to work and run businesses at the same time, so their anger accumulated.
The people generally think the suffering they are going through is due to the political failures of Kim Jong Il. Furthermore, there are so many people who pass by Hamheung destined for Hyesan, Rajin, Sunbong, and Pyongsung that people are unable to find out whether it is the locals or outsiders who wrote them.”
Kwon said apart from the samizdat incident, there were many cases of missing portraits. In 2003, portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il were found torn around the Sungchun River, which caused intense investigation by the security agency.
There are many similarities found between Kwon’s testimonies on the slogan incident and the 2004 Hoiryeong anti-regime video. It appears that most of the anti-regime activities in North Korea are taking place in South Hamkyung province.
