Prosecutors in Pyongyang have launched intensive inspections of the city’s water parks as North Koreans flock to the facilities during the sweltering summer heat, targeting what authorities believe is an organized ticket scalping operation involving park officials.
“Pyongyang prosecutors’ office is inspecting the management and operation of all water parks in Pyongyang, including Munsu Water Park,” a source in Pyongyang told Daily NK recently. “The inspections are taking place simultaneously across the city through the end of the month.”
The crackdown began after prosecutors discovered evidence of systematic ticket scalping throughout the capital. Suspecting that administrative officials and water park managers are involved in the scheme, investigators have focused on commercial and financial officials with city and district people’s committees, as well as water park management. Prosecutors have instructed their teams to keep details of the investigation confidential to prevent information leaks.
Undercover operations catch scalpers
City prosecutors have deployed plainclothes teams at water park entrances and other key locations to catch scalping in action. These undercover units are specifically looking for deals between individuals purchasing large quantities of scalped tickets and the agency or park officials supplying them.
The plainclothes operations have already resulted in several arrests of people distributing scalped tickets.
“City prosecutors are currently pressing the arrested scalpers about where they purchased the tickets, how much they paid, and whether agencies or water parks were involved,” the source explained. “Prosecutors plan to take appropriate legal measures against agency officials who tacitly approved of the scalping, even if they took no direct part in it.”
Financial pressures drive corruption
The investigation aims to address not only the scalping itself but also the underlying structural problems that enable it, including financial pressure on local people’s committees and the economic struggles of water parks.
Water parks cannot survive on regular ticket sales alone. Faced with financial demands from higher authorities, they sell scalped tickets for two to three times the regular price with tacit official approval. This system ultimately forces the public to pay inflated prices, bearing the full cost of what amounts to institutional corruption.
“Such absurd behavior to fulfill quotas is sparking public discontent, so the city prosecutors have launched an inspection using even plainclothes teams,” the source said. “This will likely continue as a model of Pyongyang-style public sentiment control.”
As the investigation proceeds, officials from people’s committees and water parks have begun trying to shift blame onto each other. “With the start of the city prosecutors’ inspection, the officials have been trying to pass the blame, but in the end, everyone connected with the scalping will likely be punished,” the source noted. “We’ll learn the results after the official reviews, which are coming soon.”
