A family in the Sosong District of Pyongyang was banished from the city in early March after it came out that a family member had defected to South Korea, Daily NK has learned.
“The family was banished after the authorities found out that a family member who was recorded as deceased was actually living in South Korea,” the source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Wednesday.
When a North Korean citizen disappears, the authorities initially record them as being “missing” and then label them as a “defector” if they are confirmed to be living in China, South Korea, or some other country. In that case, immediate family members who remain in North Korea are strictly monitored as “defector family members,” and even distant relatives face restrictions in their social advancement.
As a result, state security agents are often bribed by powerful or influential families to doctor the records so that defectors from those families are listed not as “missing” but as “deceased.”
That was what the Sosong District family had done when a family member defected in 2005, which enabled them to avoid any consequences until now. But when the Pyongyang state security department learned that the “deceased” family member was actually living in South Korea, the family was immediately kicked out of the city.
The family had apparently received money from the relation in South Korea via a remittance broker in Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province, several years before. However, state security agents recently arrested that broker and got their hands on a list of remittance recipients, which included the Sosong District family.
“The families of defectors aren’t allowed to live in Pyongyang, the capital of the revolution – they’re subject to forced relocation, with no exceptions. This family had managed to remain in the capital by presenting their missing relative as deceased rather than a defector, but as soon as the truth came out, they were immediately banished,” the source said.
Official who doctored records may also face punishment
There is tension in the air at the Pyongyang state security department, which is set to be audited by the Ministry of State Security this month in connection with the family’s banishment, the source said.
“It’s a serious problem when state security agents in Pyongyang, and not some rustic backwater, are being bribed to forge documents. That’s even more serious since South Korea has been redefined as a hostile state this year,” the source said.
There is speculation in the Pyongyang state security department that the Central Committee may banish the state security agent who forged the records about the defector’s death – if he can be found. His family would be expelled from the city as well.
“If other instances of defections being recorded as deaths in exchange for bribes turn up in the Ministry of State Security’s audit, the responsible agents may be transferred to the provinces or kicked off the force, so everyone is extremely nervous right now,” the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
