The political department of an army unit based in Chorwon County, Kangwon Province, has been sending agents disguised as civilians to the homes of the unit’s officers to determine their ideological loyalty, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in Kangwon Province told Daily NK on Monday that the political department of the unit in question “sent fake civilians to the homes of officers serving in various positions earlier this month to determine their economic circumstances and political leanings, leading to intense ideological struggle sessions.”
These “fake civilians,” assigned by the political department of the unit, visited the officers’ homes and made requests such as asking for food because “they had nothing to eat,” pleading for cement or wood “because the mud wall of their house was about to collapse,” or begging for some shabby clothes the family no longer wore “because they had nothing to wear.”
Most of the officials and their relatives felt sorry for the visitors and tried to meet their requests by inviting them into their homes and giving them food.
Once inside, however, the visitors took note of the families’ economic circumstances and reported to the political department what kind of music they heard and the ideological tone of the family members’ ordinary conversations. This raised eyebrows among the officers.
In fact, according to the source, the visitors reported everything: that the homes were “like palaces,”; that the families lived in well-appointed houses that “exuded a foreign aura” like “houses in foreign movies,”; or that they received leftover food and side dishes that were like a feast “that ordinary people could never imagine.”
They reported hearing “music with a strange accompaniment” at one officer’s house, complaining that it “clearly wasn’t North Korean music.” At another officer’s house, they reported seeing a lot of foreign-made clothing and smelling “unusual smells” from cosmetics and perfumes.
After receiving the reports, the unit’s political department ordered that anyone found guilty of anti-socialist or non-socialist behavior in their homes be subjected to intensive struggle sessions and forced to write letters of self-criticism.
One member of unit found to have “impeccable” loyalty
Only the head of the unit’s infirmary was found to be impeccable in his behavior, the source said. “He will be promoted soon, as the latest affair proved him incorruptible,” he added.
According to the source, a shabby-looking “fake civilian” went to the infirmary chief’s home with a bag of corn and begged to trade it for some of the unit’s medicine, saying his child “was dying because he had no medicine.” The chief, however, refused to listen and curtly sent him away. The political department deemed the man “unblemished” as a result.
However, the source said the infirmary chief has since been the target of envy and ostracism by other officers for being the only man left standing at the end.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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