The North Korean authorities unveiled wanted posters for two “missing persons” from a well-known Pyongyang university during a meeting of neighborhood watch leaders held in the Sino-North Korean border region, North Korean sources recently told Daily NK.
“An inminban (neighborhood watch) directors meeting was held in late May for directors living in Samsu, Huchang (Kimhyongjik) and Kimjongsuk counties and a wanted poster for the two missing students was put up. The meeting organizers also asked attendees to report the two missing persons if they are found,” a source in Ryanggang Province reported.
The meeting was held in a local district office and police officials attended to announce the central government’s order to locate the missing persons and provide background on their identities.
According to the source, one of the missing persons is a 19 year-old named Ahn Hak Song who was enrolled at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang. The other missing student had a similar background, but the source was unable to recall their name.
“There wasn’t any specific explanation about the crime they had committed, but just that they had committed a crime against the state and then fled. They told the attendees that the authorities were looking for them because there was a high chance they’d flee across the river to China. They also said that if anyone saw the two, they should report them,” a separate source in Ryanggang Province said.
“The officials also told the attendees to report them to the authorities on sight, and that anyone caught harboring them in their homes would face severe punishment.”
The inminban directors communicated this information to their constituents. “People are saying that the authorities must really have it out for them because there’s so much energy being invested into locating them,” the source continued, noting that because “they’re students from a famous university in Pyongyang, it’s possible they’re political criminals.”
“Missing persons who the authorities actively put an effort into locating are not just your typical criminals. They are almost certainly political criminals,” a defector who left Ryanggang Province in 2010 told Daily NK. “I saw wanted posters for missing persons before and most of the time they were political criminals.”
