In line with celebrations surrounding Kim Il Sung’s birthday on Apr. 15, North Korea compiled statistics on illegal residents of Pyongyang that showed most of them hailed from South Pyongyang Province. The findings led to the reprimand and dismissal of several officials in the province.
“The government compiled statistics about people who had entered Pyongyang illegally starting when COVID-19 disease control measures were announced until now. The statistics were used to rank which provinces had produced the most number of illegal residents,” a source in South Pyongan Province told Daily NK last Friday. “The largest number of illegal entries came from South Pyongan Province, which led to the judgement that the emergency epidemic command in South Pyongan Province had failed at its job.”
In short, the authorities took the opportunity presented by Kim’s birthday to both prevent residents from other areas of the country from entering Pyongyang while putting together statistics and ranking provinces by how many illegal residents they had produced.
North Korean authorities said that the responsibility for cracking down on illegal residents hailing from the provinces does not lie solely with Pyongyang’s judicial, police, security or anti-epidemic agencies. They declared that agencies in each province should take the primary responsibility for the influx of illegal residents into the capital city.
Ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has emphasized the need to stop the spread of the virus throughout the country. They have particularly emphasized the importance of “unconditionally” preventing people from other parts of the country from secretly sneaking into Pyongyang, which is known as the “capital of the revolution.”
As a result, residents of the country’s provinces have long been cautious about illegally entering Pyongyang; however, Daily NK’s source said that, recently, illegal entries into the capital city seem to be returning to pre-pandemic levels.
After the authorities revealed that most illegal residents of Pyongyang came from South Pyongan Province, they strongly criticized the province’s judicial, police, security, and anti-epidemic authorities for not doing their jobs properly.
“The government dismissed the chief of the provincial branch of the Ministry of Social Security, who had faced questions given he was heading up the province’s anti-epidemic command, along with the head of the provincial party committee. Moreover, the entire staff of the province’s anti-epidemic command was replaced,” the source said.
North Korean authorities also warned that if illegal residents are caught in Pyongyang in the future, all cadres connected to them by place of residence will be reprimanded and punished accordingly.
“The government reiterated that all anti-epidemic leadership in the provinces, cities, and counties should make sure that nobody leaves their residences until the anti-epidemic blockade is over,” the source explained, adding that authorities again emphasized that illegal entry into Pyongyang must be prevented at all costs.
Apart from South Pyongan Province, the statistics compiled about illegal residents in Pyongyang showed that many hailed from Nampo. The authorities moved to reprimand and replace the staff of Nampo’s emergency anti-epidemic command as well, the source said.
Translated by Gabriela Bernal. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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