In an attempt to counter a rise of opium use among North Korean teenagers, authorities in Ryanggang Province are now conducting physical examinations in middle schools. Further efforts include undercover police operations in schools to capture drug dealers, sources reported to Daily NK on Sunday.
In 2016, the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights conducted a series of interviews with defectors. Half of the participants stated that over 30% of North Korean people – including ordinary families and teenagers – would use drugs.
The production of the illicit opium drug used to be a traditional business sector in the state. However, this has now caused the number of addicts to rise dramatically – and has thus apparently boomeranged on North Korean society.
MIDDLE SCHOOLERS USING DRUGS
Before the North Korean authorities enforced a restriction of illicit drug manufacture by implementing the death penalty in 2013, the production of opium used to be a state-run industry. Middle school students were mobilized to harvest poppies and produce opium powder from the buds on poppy farms located in northern regions of the country.
In order to trade foreign currencies during the 1980s, North Korea even built a large opium farm called Paekdoraji, stretching across the two Hamgyong provinces Jagang and Ryanggang in the country’s north.
The factory’s size created a high demand for workers, which the North Korean authorities met by mobilizing a considerable number teenage students. This might be one underlying reason why increasing numbers of middle schoolers are now addicted to drugs.
OPIUM-DRIVEN CRIME IN HYESAN
In the past months, sources reported several drug-related incidents many of which involved young North Koreans.
One of them took place in Hyesan. Five to six middle schoolers, who had smoked opium, were fighting and misbehaving in the street until the police showed up and arrested them,” a source from Ryanggang Province explained to Daily NK. “The students had puncture wounds from needles in multiple areas on their arms. The arresting officers were shocked to see that.”
According to the source, the incident occurred in September. After the kids had injected themselves with opium, they roamed the streets and eventually picked a fight with four soldiers as well as the ten police officers who were later called to the scene.
In their assessment of the students, the officers discovered they had not only smoked opium but also injected themselves with the drug multiple times. The North Korean authorities subsequently classified some of the teenagers as formal opium addicts.
HYESAN CRACKS DOWN ON DRUG USE
The incident in Hyesan did not remain without consequences. After evaluating its existing drug regulations, the city conducted a number of physical examinations in middle schools in October. In addition, police officers went into schools undercover. Disguised as teachers, they tried to detect and eradicate drug abuses from within.
Though Hyesan has paired its regulatory initiatives with educational programs, most students have remained ignorant of the real dangers of opium use. A source explained to Daily NK: “Most students think of opium as a medicine to elevate their mood rather than an addictive drug.”
“The regulatory initiatives need stronger measures which prevent middle school students from trying opium out of curiosity,” he said, further demanding the arrest of “anyone who distributes opium to 15-year-old students.”
Kim Jong Un’s regime, on the other hand, has already recognized the danger of illicit drugs, said Thae Yong Ho, a former high-level North Korean diplomat. According to him, the North Korean officials have already conducted raids and are trying to educate the public on the dangers drug abuse.
*Translated by Violet Kim and edited by Laura Geigenberger
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