kimilsungism
A conference was held at the Palace of People's Culture in Pyongyang on Feb. 18, 2014, to mark the 40th anniversary of Kim Jong Il's declaration to spread "Kimilsungism Throughout the Whole Society." (KCNA website)

North Korea’s major law enforcement agencies have been working together recently to develop and strengthen the judicial system, which was an agenda item at the 10th Enlarged Plenary Session of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on July 9 that the Ministry of Social Security, the Ministry of State Security and the Central Prosecutors Office recently collaborated in drafting a notice on “intensifying the partywide struggle to firmly smash the enemies’ plots to strangle the republic and thoroughly eliminate anti-socialist and non-socialist acts.”

The cooperation of the three main law enforcement organizations behind the draft notice is aimed at preventing young people from drifting away from the ruling ideology.

In the draft notice, the three organizations said that “the ideology of our enemies is cleverly infiltrating our youth” and stressed the need to “eradicate the resistance to admitting anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior committed in the past on the assumption that nobody knows about it.”

North Korean authorities appear to be stepping up their crackdown on forbidden behavior after concluding that the “Youth Education Guarantee Act,” which was enacted in September 2021 to tighten ideological control over young people, has not been entirely successful in keeping young people in the ideological fold.

“Despite harsher punishments, young people are still avoiding hardship posts and engaging in various illegal behaviors, such as usury and smuggling. The government believes that if young people are contaminated with capitalist ideology, the future of the revolution will be jeopardized,” the source said.

In addition, the three organizations expressed their determination to stamp out information leaks to the outside world. The draft notice called for investigating why certain documents on propaganda and political programs, which are supposed to be kept secret, were not returned on time.

These measures, which follow the enactment of the State Secrets Protection Act in February 2023, suggest that leaks of internal documents to the outside world have become a serious problem.

The draft notice also lists action items for the three organizations. The Ministry of State Security should quickly and accurately collect and analyze information on anti-socialist activities; the Ministry of Social Security should immediately crack down on non-socialist activities; and the Central Prosecutors Office should strictly prosecute offenders while stepping up education and propaganda programs against anti-socialist and non-socialist activities.

Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons.

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