A large number of families of individuals known to have defected to South
Korea have been internally exiled, an inside source has revealed. The move comes at the end of a period of intense surveillance along the Sino-North
Korean border in what is widely seen as an effort to stem the
flow of information leaving the country.
A Hyesan-based source told Daily NK on the 23rd, “The exiled families all have members who defected [to
the South]. In Hyesan alone there are dozens of similar households, who were incriminated
by themselves or others. Those who have not yet come under investigation are really worried.”
A large group of investigators affiliated
with the Ministry of People’s Security (MPS) were dispatched to the border region late last year. Believed to be comprised of political university students, their arrival coincided with increased surveillance and crackdowns on would-be defectors and other cross-border movements.
The families currently facing exile had their fates
sealed in the “voter registration” period leading up to last month’s elections to the Supreme
People’s Assembly. This is a common method by which the authorities indirectly investigate the whereabouts of individual citizens. The security forces began to move against them as soon as the elections were complete, the source explained.
“A number of trucks owned by enterprises have been mobilized by the MPS to take the families away.
Drivers are not told where they are going until they are on their way; then an MPS officer reveals it. So exact locations are unknown.”
“Even their people’s unit chairpeople don’t know where they’ve gone. Angry relatives are left taking their anger out on the people’s unit head, saying that they really ought to know.”
According to the source, the authorities are
carrying out additional investigations through people’s unit chairpeople. The goal of the investigations is reportedly to arrest and exile households suspected of smuggling or making contact with China or South Korea.
However, people are reportedly openly voicing dissent, pointing out, “Why must we be sent away? Even if contact had been made with China or
another place [South Korea], it’s not like we are abandoning our homeland,” and,
“I challenge anyone to come forward who hasn’t done something illegal in their
lives.”
