{"id":56556,"date":"2023-11-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=56556"},"modified":"2026-04-05T14:35:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:35:23","slug":"north-hamgyong-province-state-security-agents-demand-people-turn-cell-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-hamgyong-province-state-security-agents-demand-people-turn-cell-phones\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Hamgyong Province state security agents demand that people turn in their cell phones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ministry of State Security (MSS) agents in the border region of North Hamgyong Province are instructing people to turn over their Chinese cell phones while telling them to continue making money, a contradiction that has caused confusion among people in the area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oct. 30 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">that \u201cMinistry of State Security officials have been approaching Hoeryong residents they suspect of using Chinese cell phones and pushing them to turn themselves in, while at the same time urging them to go out and make money. These agents\u2019 demands make no sense <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[since Chinese cell phones are a key tool for business]<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and many Hoeryong residents are laughing at the obvious contradiction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese-made cell phones are an important tool for business people in border regions like Hoeryong. Unlike domestically produced cell phones, Chinese cell phones can make international calls and download foreign apps like WeChat, allowing traders to communicate with trade partners beyond the border.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c[The people being approached by MSS agents] use their Chinese-made cell phones to earn money and put food on the table. So when agents tell these people to hand over their phones and go make mon<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ey, how exactly are they supposed to make that money without their most important tool? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">People can\u2019t understand why the MSS agents, who were so desperate to improve their results, have started resorting to truly idiotic tactics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In October,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Daily NK <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/hoeryong-security-agents-eager-produce-results-crackdown-illegal-cell-phone-users\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">reported<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the Hoeryong branch of the Ministry of State Security had internally announced plans to conduct targeted crackdowns against Chinese cell phone users <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">from October through Novembe<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">r. These orders were accompanied by a warning that agents who failed to produce results would be demoted to rural areas,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> leading agents to carry out the latest crackdowns with particular fervor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As a result, MSS agents in Hoeryong have been scrambling to protect their coveted positions working in the border region, a \u201ctarget-rich environment\u201d for agents to make money. The pressure to perform well in this round of crackdowns now appears to have led many agents to say all kinds of absurd things in the hopes of cajoling suspected offenders to turn themselves in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In one incident on Oct. 24, a security agent entered the home of a woman in her 40s surnamed Kim who was suspected of using a Chinese cell phone. The agent attempted to persuade her to turn herself in, saying: \u201cAre you communicating well [with South Korea]? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">[I know] you need to make a living, so it\u2019s fine to receive money. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But in the current messy circumstances, if you don\u2019t want to get caught and end up paying the price [for using a Chinese phone], the only way to keep living comfortably is turn your phone in.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> That way if this issue ever comes up again, I\u2019ll have no problem vouching for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">On Oct. 17, a different security agent in Hoeryong visited a resident of a neighborhood watch unit under his jurisdiction. The agent told the individual that \u201cI received a tip-off that you\u2019re secretly keeping and using a Chinese cell phone. If you turn over your phone to me, I can resolve the whole matter quietly.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If you take out your [Chinese] cell phone right now, I\u2019ll even let you receive some money before you hand it over.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Rumors of these incidents quickly spread, with many people criticizing security agents and pointing out that the<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">suggestions to keep making money after turning in your phone made no sense. Others asked: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cHow stupid do they think we are, that we\u2019d ever voluntarily turn over our phones?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cChinese cell phones are the lifelines of people who make their living through their ability to connect to the outside world. Nobody in their right mind would voluntarily give up their lifeline. People <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">can\u2019t help but sc<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">off at the security agents going around spouting nonsense in order to try to hold on to their positions,\u201d the source said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources who live inside North Korea, China and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK\u2019s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/faq\/\">here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20231030-5\/\"><i>Read in Korean<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ministry of State Security (MSS) agents in the border region of North Hamgyong Province are instructing people to turn over their Chinese cell phones while telling them to continue making money, a contradiction that has caused confusion among people in the area.\u00a0 Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Hamgyong [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":44025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,649],"tags":[222,759,948,1656],"class_list":["post-56556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-china-north-korea-border","tag-border","tag-china","tag-mobile-phones","tag-dprk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>N. Hamgyong Province state security agents demand that people turn in their cell phones - 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-hamgyong-province-state-security-agents-demand-people-turn-cell-phones\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. 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