A family of North Koreans attempting to defect near the border in Yanggang Province were fatally shot by soldiers about a month ago, Daily NK has learned.
A source in the province told Daily NK last Friday that a married couple in their 50s and daughter in her 20s had been attempting to cross a river on the border in Pochon County in mid-July when they were shot dead by soldiers from North Korea’s “Storm Corps.”
After North Korea closed its border in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, the authorities set up a “buffer zone” about one to two kilometers from the border and had the police announce that anybody or anything that approached barricades along the border would be shot.
Since the border closure remains in effect, there have been continuing reports about soldiers gunning down people who were attempting to defect or smuggle across North Korea’s border with China in Yanggang and North Hamgyong provinces.
North Korea’s continuing harsh treatment of trespassers on the border — which includes firing upon them with live rounds — largely represents an attempt to deter smuggling and defections through terror, the source said. The government wants it to be clearly understood that anyone who approaches the border will be killed.
North Koreans have responded to the latest incident by bemoaning the fact that innocent people are losing their lives because of the government’s harsh restrictions, the source said.
North Korea’s prolonged and strict closure of the border — ostensibly intended to keep out the COVID-19 virus — has resulted in severe economic difficulties and food shortages that have driven some hungry people to attempt to defect, sometimes with fatal consequences.
In the mid-July incident in particular, people were infuriated to learn that the soldiers, while inspecting the bodies of the family they had shot, put another bullet in the daughter to finish her off when they noticed she was still moving.
“While it’s understandable that the soldiers may have fired upon people or vehicles approaching the border as part of their duties, the worst part of this incident is that they shot [the daughter] after checking for signs of life at the scene of the incident,” the source said, describing their behavior as “unforgiveable.”
“The army has made monsters of the border guards since the pandemic began. When soldiers shoot people who approach the border, the army praises them for their patriotic behavior, with the result that soldiers no longer think that shooting people is a big deal,” he added.
