Chae Sung Chol, a state security officer attached to a North Korean construction company in the Russian city of Irkutsk, is currently the focus of much criticism from North Korean workers at the company.
Although the United Nations Security Council banned new work permits for North Korean workers abroad through Resolution 2375 – requiring them to return home by the end of 2019 – North Korea continues to send workers to Russia to earn foreign currency through construction-related contracts.
North Korean workers in Russia earn foreign currency through projects assigned to them by the companies with which they are affiliated. On the side, however, they secretly work other jobs and try to collect money for themselves. Chae, for his part, allegedly demands and receives large bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to these “under-the-table” business activities.
Chae is also cracking down on workers who use cell phones under the pretext of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act, which was enacted in late 2020. All the while, he carries around a luxury smartphone and enjoys watching South Korean movies and dramas.
According to an anonymous whistleblower who spoke directly to Daily NK about Chae’s abuses, North Korean workers in Russia try to endure the misconduct and behavior of their managers but usually give up on petitioning the government when they realize that such whistleblowing will go nowhere.
Extorting money from workers in the name of the party, leader, and state
The coronavirus outbreak in 2020 was the beginning of another nightmare for North Korean workers in Irkutsk, Russia. Chae was supposed to return to his country but was stranded in Russia when North Korea closed its borders under the pretext of preventing the coronavirus from entering the country.
Realizing that he would not be called in by the authorities for some time and that government officials would have little say over his activities, Chae turned to “robbery.” He demanded payment from North Korean workers, claiming that the money he collected was for the “party, leader and state.” But instead of sending the money to North Korea, he kept it for himself.
Not only that, but every month Chae would meet with workers doing under-the-table jobs to demand payment, threatening to “report everything to the motherland” if they did not pay up. Meanwhile, Chae claimed that he could ensure that they would be “forgiven” for their misdeeds.
Chae cracks down on cell phone users but enjoys South Korean cultural content himself
Chae also used North Korea’s Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act to line his pockets. He preyed on workers who used cell phones. According to the whistleblower, Chae cracked down on workers who used cell phones, saying they were “watching South Korean dramas” or “watching South Korean news.”
He had a large 65-inch TV in his room, connected to Wi-Fi to enjoy South Korean dramas and movies, and even wore a wireless headset to avoid detection, evidence that he was doing “the most impure thing possible. The whistleblower claimed that Chae is a complete hypocrite: He cracks down mercilessly on workers but enjoys the same things he does not allow them to enjoy.
The whistleblower criticized Chae by saying that “he doesn’t even listen to the elementary party secretary"Elementary party secretaries" are party officials who work ... More sent from home [the DPRK], and he says what he wants and acts like a king of a small kingdom.
“Chae may look gentle and kind on the outside, but he is terrible and ruthless to the people he is in charge of,” he continued, adding: “He doesn’t just hold a knife, he’s the worst kind of robber.”
When asked why he wanted to report Chae’s wickedness, the whistleblower said: “I wanted to show the strength of the weak.”
“In Russia, state security officers are called No. 3 [managers are No. 1, while party secretaries are No. 2], but sometimes they overtake No. 2 and even take the money that No. 1 siphons off. Basically, their job is to crack down on non-socialist behavior, but some state security officials don’t hesitate to do unscrupulous things, even stealing the petty cash that workers earn,” Jung Sang Chul (a pseudonym), a former worker in Russia and North Korean defector, told Daily NK.
Asked if workers could submit a petition against a state security officer, Jung said: “It is absolutely impossible.” According to him, state security officers usually come from powerful backgrounds, so even company managers cannot take action against them.
“Some officials crack down on the activities of state security officers, but the main focus of such crackdowns is whether state security officers have properly monitored workers for potential defectors,” Jung said, adding that “officials don’t bother to make trouble for state security officers who steal workers’ money or watch South Korean dramas.”
Meanwhile, the whistleblower told Daily NK that he wanted to “tell the world, everyone on this planet, about Chae’s actions so that he can be brought to justice and to show the power of the weak and oppressed.”
Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
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