{"id":57233,"date":"2024-01-09T10:40:46","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T01:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=57233"},"modified":"2024-01-09T10:40:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T01:40:46","slug":"north-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea replaces some trade officials in China amid intensifying surveillance of their activities"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Some North Korean trade officials in China have recently been replaced amid increased monitoring of their mobile phones, including the use of VPNs, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in China said on Jan. 4 that several North Korean trade officials flew to China last month, while many trade officials who were stuck in China after North Korea sealed its border due to COVID-19 returned home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Air Koryo passenger flights flew between North Korea and China on Dec. 12, 19, 26, and 30. The four flights brought new trade officials to China and returned trade officials who were in China back home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some trade officials returned home by bus from Dandong, China, to Sinuiju, North Korea. Pyongyang appears to have carried out a rapid rotation of its trade officials in China.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With the personnel rotation, North Korean consulates in China have intensified their inspections, surveillance, and crackdowns directed at trade officials.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&#8220;North Korean consulates have been conducting mobile phone inspections since last month, checking recent phone calls and text messages,&#8221; the source said.<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many trade officials have responded to the inspections by changing their phone numbers or deleting and reinstalling their messaging apps.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>In particular, North Korean consulates have been cracking down on proxy applications such as VPNs, which allow mobile phone users to access foreign websites.<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cMinistry of State Security agents are rummaging through WeChat to see what you talked about with whom and examining your internet history to see if you visited South Korean websites,\u201d the source said, referring to North Korea&#8217;s secret police organization. \u201cPeople who&#8217;ve done something that could get them caught change their phones, even if it costs money.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This suggests that some trade officials are buying new mobile phones to avoid the crackdown, although mobile phones are not cheap in China, typically costing between RMB 2,500 and RMB 3,500 (USD 352 to 493).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The source added that North Korean officials have been conducting surprise inspections of trade officials\u2019 homes. After calling to make sure someone is home, officials immediately barge into the homes and inspect all documents present, including computer files, books, and notes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, North Korean trade officials are minimizing their contacts and meetings with Chinese traders outside official business.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&#8220;The inspections and surveillance of North Korean trade officials by consulates and security officials are likely to continue into the new year,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;Trade officials believe that keeping a low profile and avoiding trouble is now more important than producing results.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources who live in 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/faq\/\">here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><em>Please direct any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20240104-1\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20231201-5\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some North Korean trade officials in China have recently been replaced amid increased monitoring of their mobile phones, including the use of VPNs, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0 Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in China said on Jan. 4 that several North Korean trade officials flew to China last [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":42103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,645,649],"tags":[735,759,1124,1656],"class_list":["post-57233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-economy","category-china-north-korea-border","tag-trade","tag-china","tag-crackdowns","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. Korea replaces some trade officials in China amid intensifying surveillance of their activities - 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-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"N. Korea replaces some trade officials in China amid intensifying surveillance of their activities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some North Korean trade officials in China have recently been replaced amid increased monitoring of their mobile phones, including the use of VPNs, Daily NK has learned.\u00a0 Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in China said on Jan. 4 that several North Korean trade officials flew to China last [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-09T01:40:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/09\/Chinese-North-Korea-Friendship-Bridge.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=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seulkee Jang\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 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-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/north-korea-replaces-some-trade-officials-china-amid-intensifying-surveillance-activities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seulkee Jang\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/194958ce83d17408851c1d378fa83857\"},\"headline\":\"N. 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