North Korean officials have launched surprise inspections across major cities to verify if policies favoring neighborhood watch unit leaders are being properly implemented.
“After March’s third national meeting of active neighborhood unit leaders, where a party order was issued to strengthen their role and expand their benefits, emergency teams were dispatched nationwide to directly confirm policy implementation,” a Pyongyang source revealed recently.
Surprise inspection puts officials on alert
The inspection teams consisted of officials from the party’s Discipline Inspection Department and Cabinet Secretariat. Thirty inspectors were divided into six teams and sent to conduct unannounced visits in key cities including Pyongyang, Nampo, Pyongsong, and Wonsan.
Deployed on May 1 and 3, the inspectors primarily focused on verifying whether neighborhood watch unit heads had received their recent salaries and grain rations from state-run shops.
The surprise nature of these inspections immediately put local people’s committees and neighborhood office officials on alert.
In Pyongyang, inspectors quickly discovered that neighborhood watch unit heads in several areas—including the Cholgol neighborhood of Mangyongdae district, Tongdaewon 1 neighborhood in Tongdaewon district, and Ryonmot neighborhood in Sosong district—had not received their recent salaries. They also found that policies allowing these leaders to purchase grain at state-subsidized prices were not being enforced.
The inspection findings were promptly reported to central government authorities on May 4. Just one day later, officials received a written warning for having “flouted party policy” established at the March meeting. The warning cautioned them not to “let this blow up into a second Usi County-Onchon County Incident”—referring to corruption cases that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally condemned during the 30th Expanded Secretariat Meeting in late January.
The inspection team emphasized that neighborhood watch unit heads were the “socialist eyes and ears in charge of dozens of households,” adding that “without them, the anti-socialist struggle would die.” They noted that while unit heads had shown greater loyalty following the March meeting, “officials had done a shoddy job compensating and supporting them.”
Administrative officials in the criticized Pyongyang districts have been scrambling to address these issues, fearing another unexpected inspection.
Concerns raised about elevating status of neighborhood watch unit heads
The inspection team has presented their investigation as directly ordered by Kim Jong Un himself.
“The inspection team said the supreme leader was concerned about whether neighborhood watch unit heads were being treated fairly and personally ordered the inspection,” the source noted. “They’re portraying this not as a mere administrative check, but as an embodiment of the supreme leader’s love for and faith in neighborhood watch unit heads—something that has deeply moved the unit heads themselves.”
However, many North Koreans are concerned that as the state continues to empower these neighborhood watch unit leaders, they will become increasingly authoritarian in their dealings with the public.
“Neighborhood watch unit heads have now been elevated to a higher position, and people aren’t particularly pleased about this,” the source added.
North Korea highlighted the importance of neighborhood watch units and their leaders during the March meeting. While posing for a commemorative photo with participants, Kim Jong Un stated that “neighborhood units form a cornerstone supporting our people-centered state and social system and serve as the foundation of residents’ lives.”
He added that “the functions and roles of neighborhood units act as a driving force propelling our state toward comprehensive development.”
