Following a major party meeting last month, North Korea has ordered a sweeping “mop-up operation” against Chinese-made mobile phone users near the China border, with state security forces deploying comprehensive surveillance tactics to hunt down illegal device users.
“At the end of last month, local Ministry of State Security branches in Hoeryong and other border areas in North Hamgyong province received orders from headquarters to conduct a ‘mop-up operation against the remaining roots,'” a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province said recently. “The order called for full-scale operations targeting Chinese-made mobile phone users in border regions.”
In response, state security branches in Hoeryong and other border areas have dramatically stepped up their investigations to catch Chinese-made mobile phone users.
According to the source, the Hoeryong branch has launched an all-out effort to identify users of Chinese-made mobile phones, deploying every investigative tool available — including signal detectors, interrogations, undercover operations, stakeouts, and surveillance — on orders from headquarters.
The Hoeryong branch began its full-scale campaign to identify and eliminate Chinese-made mobile phone users on June 30.
Brokers living in fear
The branch is particularly focused on interrogating arrested remittance brokers to extract information about other brokers. After adding new targets to their list, they closely monitor and surveil their movements while regularly intercepting their communications.
As a result, remittance brokers — who rely on Chinese-made mobile phones as a primary source of income — are living in fear, never knowing when they might be arrested while using their devices. They’ve drastically reduced their communication with the outside world.
They avoid turning on their Chinese-made phones whenever possible, and when they must use them, they carefully scan for strangers within a 50-meter radius, keep calls extremely brief — lasting only a minute or two — and immediately power off their devices afterward.
“Since the party’s recent plenary meeting, the local state security branch has been deadly serious. I’m not certain, but it appears they were ordered to take intensive measures to block information sharing,” the source said. “The atmosphere is so harsh that some people are saying the days of making money with Chinese-made mobile phones are over.”
People who appear to be state security informants have been spotted multiple times daily at the home of one remittance broker on the surveillance list, suspected of using Chinese-made phones. With agents conducting such obvious surveillance and apparently under orders to arrest anyone they can, remittance brokers are keeping extremely low profiles, the source said.
“State security agents are pressuring arrested brokers to turn in others with Chinese-made mobile phones, applying so much pressure that you can’t stay silent even if you have to lie,” the source said. “The state security branch really seems determined to finish this job once and for all.”
