A Three Revolutions Team member at a logging camp in Pungso County, Yanggang Province, was arrested on Mar. 11 for “infecting the work team with reactionary thought and culture,” a reporting partner in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
The Three Revolutions Team member distributed USB cards with South Korean films, music and dance videos to the seven loggers he was living with at the camp.
The “Three Revolutions” refers to a North Korean revolutionary movement to bring about ideal transformations in ideology, technology, and culture. Daily NK reported in 2021 that up to 80% of the country’s college graduates would serve in Three Revolutions Teams to provide low-cost labor to various enterprises and factories throughout the country.
According to the reporting partner, the Three Revolutions Team member is accused of bringing a new USB card to give to the workers every time he returned to the logging camp. He is also accused of creating a lax atmosphere that encouraged workers to slack off at work because of the cold weather and other problems.
In particular, the Three Revolutions Team member caused political problems by creating a secret society, getting the laborers to make a vow of silence over how they “freely enjoyed themselves watching South Korean films and listening to South Korean music while drinking,” the reporting partner said.
According to the reporting partner, the work team the Three Revolutions Team member was responsible for “was criticized during every review for having the worst production results.” During a review, one of the seven loggers received particular condemnation, and he confessed to agents with the local Ministry of State Security branch about what was happening.
After hearing the confession, the Yanggang Province branch of the “unified command on anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior” rushed a mobile strike team to Pungso County to arrest the Three Revolutions Team member and workers in the middle of the night, the reporting partner said.
“The workers have all been dragged off, and the Three Revolutions Team member is undergoing questioning in a solitary cell at the local Ministry of State Security office. He is being treated as a political prisoner, having been accused of agitating the workers to promote reactionary thought and culture and spreading anti-socialist and non-socialist thought,” he said.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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