North Hamgyong Province’s state security and police departments have been instructed by the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea to inform residents of the border region about North Korea and China’s agreement regarding the repatriation of defectors.
“State security and police departments in the province were sent information at the end of April about the Central Committee’s close deliberations with the Chinese government and China’s agreement to repatriate people who crossed the border illegally and are currently in Chinese prisons,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The Central Committee ordered state security agents and police officers at various levels to quickly visit organizations, companies and neighborhood watch units in the border region and inform them about the discussion about repatriating illegal border crossers and about China’s decision. This is an overt and public attempt to terrify people living near the border,” the source added.
According to the source, the main point of the document sent by the Central Committee is that China has agreed to step up efforts to apprehend and repatriate everyone who crosses the border illegally. The Central Committee also said in the document that China’s measures will leave defectors with nowhere to turn and make it even harder for them to reach South Korea.
The document when on to say that any defectors who are repatriated will be treated the same, whether they had intended to stay in China or to continue on to another country, such as South Korea. It added that there will be consequences for any family members left behind in the North.
“The objective behind revealing this information to the public is to prevent defections by pressuring anyone who had been considering that course of action to abandon the idea. The Central Committee stressed that its goal is to prevent defectors from passing through China to other countries, including South Korea, and in so doing to preserve national security,” the source said.
After this information was shared with residents of the border region in North Hamgyong Province, locals have been expressing not only fear, but also disappointment and frustration about the increasing difficulty and danger of defecting, the source said.
“Economic conditions are as tough as they were during the ‘Arduous March,’ and the non-tax burdens are ten times worse than they used to be. People wish they had a way to escape the state’s harassment, but the border is being policed ever more heavily, which has caused an atmosphere of terror. Many people find all this very disturbing,” the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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