Weeding Out Spies with Conference Noise

While the delayed Delegates’ Conference has produced suggestions of all kinds of possible causes, one anonymous source who is well-acquainted with North Korea has released a new analysis: that at some point the North Korean authorities decided not to hold the event in the first half of September, but intentionally leaked several different stories about the date of the conference anyway in order to chase inside informants and routes by which information is leaked to South Korea and other countries.

The anonymous source explained, “I heard from a high Party cadre in early September that the Conference had been delayed to October, but that the authorities summoned local delegates to Pyongyang, let some of them go back and will call them in again. I cannot avoid interpreting these strange moves as intended to spread confusion about the day of the conference to outside North Korea watchers.”

The source said, “I think it is likely that by releasing several different scenarios through each different channel, they intended to track spies and information channels.”

“It is not that surprising that Kim Jong Il would carry out such an operation in terms of the day of the Party Delegates’ Conference,” The Daily NK’s source went on.

He explained further, “As you have seen, Kim Jong Il visited China in secret and has kept Kim Jong Eun’s identity veiled; Kim Jong Il’s first priority is maintaining the security of the system.”

He added, “Information about his health has been flowing out to the world, so security organs might have suggested this plan. Therefore, Kim Jong Il is likely to have accepted that suggestion and undertaken this security operation while giving the excuse of the flood to the delegates and the people.”

On a related tack, another anonymous expert on North Korea said there is a possibility that a security problem with this “No. 1 Event” might have come about.

Several sources have reported that leaflets have been found around Kim Il Sung University and in downtown Pyongyang since the 5th.

The expert explained, “A higher possibility is not the flood or Kim Jong Il’s health condition, but that dangerous elements against Kim Jong Il or Kim Jong Eun appeared.”

He added, “It is not feasible for the Party Delegates’ Conference, which was supposed to be held for the first time in 44 years, to have been delayed by an average flood.”

“There might have been concerns about an element threatening Kim Jong Il. Therefore, the Escort Bureau may have suggested the delay and Kim accepted it.”

According to information that The Daily NK has collected from inside sources including those in Shinuiju, Chongjin and Pyongyang between the 14th and today, right before the Party Foundation Day on October 10th is now the most likely date for the conference to go ahead.