North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently ordered that violators of the anti-reactionary thought law be sternly punished, with serious violators subject to exile to rural areas with their families, Daily NK has learned.
“In late September, a No. 1 order [an order signed by Kim Jong Un] was issued to mercilessly punish people who commit crimes against the party or state, regardless of their status, age or job. The order also said that the violators be exiled their families,” a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“A regular monthly meeting of the executive committee of South Pyongan Province’s party committee, which discusses party policy, conveyed the order to the party committee’s security committee, which deals with law enforcement matters.”
In the past, families were punished only when a relative was sent to a political prison camp run by the Ministry of State Security. However, the latest No. 1 order said that even family members of criminals sent to reeducation camps run by the Ministry of Social Security can now face exile depending on the nature and severity of the crime committed.
The order instructed officials to break with past practice of overlooking violations of the anti-reactionary thought law if the violator’s family included somebody who had won special favor from the Workers’ Party, including government-recognized “heroes,” pilots or people who met the nation’s supreme leader. Instead, the order instructed that these people must be sternly punished and exiled with their families, regardless of the reasons behind the crime.
Moreover, the order instructed that any siblings or children in the military be immediately discharged and sent into exile with their families.
The source explained: “In conveying the No. 1 order to the security committee, the executive committee of South Pyongan Province’s party committee instructed that it [the security committee] reflect the order in executing the law. In particular, the executive committee said that among the criminals arrested under the anti-reactionary thought law, people caught for crimes related to impure videos from South Korea shall face particularly severe punishment and that their families should also be dealt with mercilessly.”
The provincial party committee’s executive committee also urged the security committee to work closely with local police, security officials and military security forces to prevent problems, such as ensuring that people facing punishment or their families are unable to cause “disturbances,” such as sensing their impending exile and running away.
“The No. 1 order has been delivered to all the municipal and county-level Unified Commands on Non-socialist and Anti-socialist Behavior in the province, as well as to local branches of the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Social Security. The families of people who are currently under investigation or who are under suspicion [of violating the law] are fearful about being exiled.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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