The Ministry of People’s Safety (PSM) in Chongjin, North Hamkyung Province is hunting for two men after one of its officers was killed in a brutal roadside incident.
A source from North Hamkyung Province reported to Daily NK on the 10th, “This officer from Suseong PSM station in the Songpyung-gu area of Chongjin got attacked by two passing pedestrians on the street and died. A warrant has been put out for their arrest.”
According to the source, the PSM is now conducting an urgent investigation into the case, with officers visiting their assigned workplaces and People’s Units to try and track down the culprits.
“People are being warned that this is a murder case, and thus anyone who fails to report persons meeting the description of the suspects will be treated as accomplices to the crime,” the source said. “They are searching lodgings in the Suseong-dong area, and entering people’s houses without warning as well. The atmosphere here is tense just now.”
According to the source, the two pedestrians initially asked the officer, who was passing on a bicycle, a question about an unknown topic. However, they were angered by his high-handed response, so snatched the bicycle from him and made moves to run away with it. The officer apparently drew a weapon and fired a shot into the air, but this only incited the men, who returned and delivered the savage beating that led to the officer’s eventual death.
The officer reportedly managed to return to Suseong PSM station, but died later of blood loss caused by his injuries. The case took place on a busy street, meaning that a number of people witnessed it. However, the beating that occurred was apparently so violent that the source does not believe it could have been stopped.
Commenting on the seemingly senseless murder, the source explained, “This incident might look like an unprovoked incident, but people are suffering a lot, and the more the security services crack down so the more people have issues with them. This case emerged from those complaints.”
“May and June are also the spring hardship period (when food is in short supply in traditional farming societies), and people are mobilized for many things at this time,” he went on. “This is a time that makes people angry.”
