North Korean security officials are investigating an incident in Kaesong involving the theft of vinyl film from a collective farm, Daily NK has learned.
“Four seedbeds of rice seedlings withered away and died early this month at the Sihung Collective Farm in Panmun County, just before the planting season,” a source in Kaesong told Daily NK on June 10.
“Local security officials are investigating the incident along with municipal party officials and the local rural management committee,” he added.
The source explained that the farm had been conducting patrols to keep an eye on the seedbeds given the government’s emphasis on increasing agricultural productivity at all costs. Farm managers found the withered away seedbeds with their vinyl film coverings missing during the night of June 2.
Investigators were sent to the farm the next day and they concluded that the vinyl film coverings had been torn away with a sharp object – possibly a nail – before being carried away.
The dead seedlings were ultimately thrown away because they could not be planted in the fields, the source said.
“Vinyl film is scarce and expensive in North Korea, which means the material has been the target of robberies,” the source explained. “It’s rare to see the material stolen from seedbeds just before the planting season because that’s considered as bad as spying or committing an act of espionage or assassination. The government also deems such behavior reactionary.”
Investigators have been trying their best to figure out the whereabouts of the missing vinyl film, but they have not come up with any clues, the source added.
The local Ministry of State Security office recently held a lecture for farmers and other locals, telling them that stealing vinyl film is what spies from South Korea do. “Everyone must be alert and report any suspicious incidents immediately,” the lecturer reportedly said.
“The farm has created teams of two to monitor the seedbeds until the planting season is over,” the Kaesong-based source said, adding, “Local security officers are also conducting frequent patrols around the farm, too.”
Rodong Sinmun reported on June 9 that the country has completed “over 90%” of the planting for this year.
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