North Korean police have intensified inspections of residential areas in North Hamgyong province, using heightened inter-Korean tensions as justification. The provincial Ministry of Social Security has ordered local police departments to conduct regular checks of neighborhood watch units, leading some unit heads to resort to bribery to manage the burden.<\/p>\n
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently that the Hoeryong police department has significantly increased housing inspections. These unannounced visits involve police officers and neighborhood watch unit heads checking homes for unreported guests.<\/p>\n
The surge in inspections coincides with North Korea’s increased provocations toward South Korea, including accusations of drone infiltrations over Pyongyang and the destruction of inter-Korean road connections along the peninsula’s coasts.<\/p>\n
“The police form teams of two or three to carry out the accommodations inspections in neighborhood watch units selected day-to-day by the city police department,” the source explained. “When they go out for an inspection, they usually inspect two neighborhood watch units at a time, or about 50 to 60 households. This takes about four to five hours, so the heads of the neighborhood watch units have to go around knocking on other people’s doors until the early morning hours.”<\/p>\n
The frequent inspections, occurring every three days, have exhausted both unit heads and residents. Unit heads must remain on standby even after 9 p.m., while residents are required to immediately open their doors for inspection regardless of the hour.<\/p>\n
In response, some people have turned to bribery. In one Hoeryong neighborhood, residents pooled together cigarettes and liquor as bribes, arguing they “would be exhausted if they did things by the book.”<\/p>\n
“If they take the bribe offered by the head of the neighborhood watch unit, the police selectively inspect just one or two households and report to their superiors that they found nothing wrong,” the source revealed. “Neighborhood watch unit heads usually make a big fuss about collecting non-tax burdens from families, but this time, the neighborhood watch unit head has been collecting the bribes in good humor.”<\/p>\n
The source added: “Nevertheless, not all neighborhood watch units are doing this. So, police officers conducting the inspections praise the neighborhood watch unit heads who offer cigarettes or liquor for their ‘flexibility.'”<\/p>\n