A young person in Hamhung caught stealing a computer from a state agency was recently sentenced to three years of reform through labor, Daily NK has learned.
“In early March, a person in their 20s was brought before the Ministry of Social Security in Hamhung after being caught stealing a computer from a government agency. They were promptly sentenced on Mar. 18 to three years of reform through labor,” a reporting partner in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Mar. 24, speaking on condition of anonymity.
According to the reporting partner, crime is widespread in Hamhung as people’s living situations have continued to deteriorate this year due to food shortages. Some people have even brazenly broken into and stolen items from government agencies and businesses.
North Korean authorities consider theft to be a serious social problem. In mid-February, the authorities ordered provincial police agencies across the country to take full control of the situation and harshly punish offenders involved in mob violence, robbery, and other kinds of crime that foster social unrest.
“With nothing to eat, people are constantly tightening their belts and going without. It’s been like that for over three years, and now the majority of people are suffering from poverty and starvation. As a result, people are resorting to all kinds of methods, including theft, to avoid starving to death,” the reporting partner said.
However, in the face of widespread economic troubles, there is often nothing left to steal from personal homes. That has led many people to steal from government agencies and businesses, which has forced the government to increase the level of punishment handed down for thefts.
The young person in Hamhung who was recently sentenced to three years for stealing a computer was “caught soon after the Ministry of Social Security order was passed down, so their harsh punishment was meant to serve as an example to others,” the reporting partner explained.
“The young person stole [the computer] because their family’s poor financial circumstances made it difficult to know where their next meal would come from,” the reporting partner said.
“Before sentencing someone in their twenties to reform through labor, the government should stop to consider why someone in the best years of their life might have no choice but to steal.”
The reporting partner added: “The number of people committing crimes to ensure their livelihoods have grown rampant recently, even more so than the Arduous March period. The state is doing nothing to address the situation besides harshly punishing offenders. If things continue this way, we might well find ourselves living in a world where people who are so hungry they can’t think about anything else will have no qualms about committing murder.”
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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