A cadre with the South Pyongan Province branch of “Unified Command 82” was recently sacked and exiled with his family to a rural area after an investigation found him guilty of taking more than USD 80,000 in bribes over the past year.
According to a Daily NK source in North Korea on Monday, the man – the deputy department head of the provincial branch of Unified Command 82 – is in his 50s and has the family name of Choe.
Choe’s punishment followed allegations that he misused his authority to make a lot of money in bribes despite being an official who should have been “taking the lead in the struggle against anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior.”
Appointed to his deputy department head position in July of last year, Choe had the important job of determining the punishments of those involved in anti-socialist or non-socialist behavior in the province. This behavior is generally defined as consuming illegal publications or videos, dealing or distributing narcotics, or engaging in superstitious behavior.
Choe used his position and authority to receive bribes in return for covering up the criminal activities of the province’s wealthy entrepreneurial class, or donjuLiterally "masters of money," donju refers to people who hav... More, provincial cadres, and their family members.
According to the source, he frequently took at least USD 3,000 to cover up for somebody caught watching South Korean movies, a serious crime North Korean authorities link directly with regime stability.
However, somebody blew the whistle on Choe’s bribe taking in mid-May, leading to the dispatch of a team from the Central Committee’s Organization and Guidance Department to investigate his alleged corruption.
The investigation revealed that, from July 2021 to earlier this year, Choe received around USD 80,000 from about 20 people. Following the investigation, he was branded an “anti-party, anti-revolutionary factionalist element” and exiled to a rural area with his family.
Amid the continued closure of its borders due to COVID-19, North Korea has been bolstering its struggle against anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior as part of efforts to guard against ideological laxity and discontent toward the regime. This may explain why the authorities came down so hard on Choe for using his authority to turn corrupt profits instead of uprooting aberrant behavior as he was tasked to do.
“In fact, he got off lightly,” the source said. “He should consider himself lucky that he wasn’t shot.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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