{"id":38371,"date":"2018-11-07T15:54:13","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T06:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=38371"},"modified":"2020-01-17T09:22:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:22:23","slug":"north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korean authorities hire more informants to clamp down on dissent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Military guard post in North Pyongan Province along the Amnok\/Yalu River. Image: Daily NK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The North Korean authorities have recently increased the number of secret informants in North Korean cities straddling the Sino-DPRK border as part of efforts to prevent further defections, sources in the country say. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMinistry of State Security (MSS) informants have increased threefold in North Korean cities on the Sino-DPRK border,\u201d said a North Korean source currently in China on November 2. \u201cThe authorities have massively increased the number of people monitoring North Koreans living in the border cities.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of MSS informants has increased significantly, which means the authorities intend to watch everyone\u2019s movements very closely,\u201d another source in China with ties to North Korea added.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rising number of informants on the ground is aimed at strengthening the security state\u2019s \u201cfirst line of defense\u201d against defections. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered security services to \u201cunderstand everything on the ground, even the fall of a needle,\u201d after gaining power.<\/span><\/p>\n

The developments also suggest that the authorities do not intend to loosen any existing restrictions on freedom of speech or thought. The rise in the number of informants comes after orders from the central government in the wake of the recent Pyongyang summit to \u201cthoroughly comprehend what WPK [Workers\u2019 Party of Korea] members and the people are thinking.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A Ryanggang Province-based source told Daily NK, \u201cPeople are saying amongst themselves that the [summits] have, unexpectedly, led to no successes and the sanctions are still in place. They are upset that the government talked about unification just being around the corner, but in reality, nothing has really changed.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities have detected discontent among the population recently and appear to have taken action by increasing the number informants to monitor the sentiment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The need to greatly increase the number of informants has reportedly led to a loosening of the hiring requirements. Informants previously had to come from \u201cgood backgrounds\u201d in the \u201ccore class\u201d (as opposed to the wavering or hostile classes) and would be disqualified if any of their relatives had criminal records. <\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, there were many cases in which informants were from the actual locations that the monitoring activities were targeted at as this allowed them to accurately understand local conditions. <\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, however, the authorities have approached smugglers to become informants, according to a separate source in Ryanggang Province, who noted that “informants were not selected from among smugglers in the past, but now they\u2019re reportedly popular picks by the MSS.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

As the news of the recent arrest of a broker helping defectors in Onsong, North Hamgyong Province, has spread along with news of the recent rise in informants, North Koreans are now saying more than ever that \u201cit\u2019s more dangerous than before.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was somewhat easy to guess who was an informant in the past,\u201d said the second Ryanggang Province source, suggesting that people are now being intimidated into silence. \u201cBut now people are saying it\u2019s more difficult to know [\u2026] They now have to be careful about what they say.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard fewer people are heading directly to South Korea from North Korea nowadays,\u201d a defector living in Seoul told Daily NK on condition of anonymity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBrokers are not helping as many defectors as before because they’re afraid of being caught.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The North Korean authorities have recently increased the number of secret informants in North Korean cities straddling the Sino-DPRK border as part of efforts to prevent further defections, sources in the country say. \u201cMinistry of State Security (MSS) informants have increased threefold in North Korean cities on the Sino-DPRK border,\u201d said a North Korean source […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":38372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\nNorth Korean authorities hire more informants to clamp down on dissent - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"North Korean authorities hire more informants to clamp down on dissent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The North Korean authorities have recently increased the number of secret informants in North Korean cities straddling the Sino-DPRK border as part of efforts to prevent further defections, sources in the country say. \u201cMinistry of State Security (MSS) informants have increased threefold in North Korean cities on the Sino-DPRK border,\u201d said a North Korean source […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-07T06:54:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-17T00:22:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/DSC3719.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lee Sang-yong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lee Sang-yong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Sang-yong\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/af77e9df0c71b46d0e8583adf9222a8f\"},\"headline\":\"North Korean authorities hire more informants to clamp down on dissent\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-07T06:54:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-17T00:22:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":573,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/DSC3719.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korean-authorities-hire-more-informants-to-clamp-down-on-dissent\\\/\",\"name\":\"North Korean authorities hire more informants to clamp down on dissent - 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