With North Korean authorities cracking down on the use of Chinese mobile phones in the country, North Korean money transfer brokers are increasingly relying on the advice of shamans about whether to go ahead with transactions or not.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that “shamans in Hyesan have recently become more popular” because “remittance brokers are trying to determine the [safest way to operate] amid tightened security.”
Recently, a growing number of brokers are asking for the dates of birth of those who send and receive money. Some brokers are even asking for the personal information about the parents and siblings of defectors wanting to send money into the country.
After receiving the personal information, brokers then head to fortune tellers to ask if it is alright for them to proceed with the transactions. This process can be compared to the traditional Korean practice of seeing a shaman to determine marriage compatibility between two people, except in this case it is about a broker’s “compatibility” with specific transactions.
The act of entrusting one’s fate to a fortune teller can result in some deals going sour. This happens when the fortune teller warns the broker to be careful about the persons involved in a particular deal.
As North Korean authorities have continued to ramp up their crackdowns and punishments since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many North Koreans seem to be turning more and more to superstitious beliefs.
There are, however, some negative side effects that result from these superstitions. For example, brokers are sometimes mistakenly viewed as Ministry of State Security (MSS) spies when they ask for sensitive information such as birthdates. Such misunderstandings have even led to the end of long-term working relationships, the source said.
Daily NK’s interviews with several defectors in South Korea found that many of them thought it was absurd that brokers ask when someone’s birthday is.
Brokers, however, believe that there is little else they can do to ensure their “safety.” On the other hand, defectors believe that giving out personal information is directly linked to life and death. As such, conflict between the two sides over this issue looks set to continue into the future.
According to the source, the crackdowns must be very severe for brokers to resort to asking for sensitive information as this makes it easy for their intentions to be misunderstood.
“The way MSS officials conduct crackdowns are becoming more sophisticated by the day and, with spies spread all over the place, there is no way of knowing at what moment you could be caught,” the source said.
Meanwhile, there is an increasing number of North Koreans who have been seeking out fortune tellers because of the country’s food shortages. In particular, people conducting illegal business, including cadres, believe every word these fortune tellers say, the source said.
Translated by Gabriela Bernal
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