{"id":61968,"date":"2024-11-27T09:30:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T00:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=61968"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:48:55","slug":"north-korea-failed-whistleblower-system-informants-left-unprotected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-failed-whistleblower-system-informants-left-unprotected\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea&#8217;s failed whistleblower system: Informants left unprotected"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">North Korea&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-2022-public-reporting-law-revealed-full\/\">Public Reporting System Law<\/a> encourages overseas workers to report their colleagues&#8217; illegal activities, but the system has proven ineffective due to inadequate informant protection and mishandling of reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Based on Daily NK&#8217;s investigation of Chinese seafood processing plants, while direct phone lines connect factory reporting &#8220;boxes&#8221; to North Korean authorities like the embassy, workers are unable to safely use these reporting channels.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A source in China told Daily NK recently that a worker at one seafood processing plant in Jilin province \u201creported illegal behavior in mid-November of last year, but was then sexually assaulted by a manager.\u201d The source said the official who received the report \u201ccalled the female worker in and blackmailed her, asking how she\u2019d like it if he told her comrades that she was a mole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">After being labeled a &#8220;psychiatric patient&#8221; by officials, the worker was forcibly sent back to North Korea. Her case spread through the factory, with coworkers lamenting that she was merely following orders to report issues, only to meet such a fate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;Workers coerced into becoming informants live under constant threat,&#8221; the source told Daily NK. &#8220;They&#8217;re trapped &#8211; reporting colleagues brings punishment, but refusing to report does too. Many women say the stress is unbearable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">North Korea&#8217;s Public Reporting System Law, intended to strengthen internal control, is fundamentally flawed. With inadequate protections for informants, the system leaves them exposed to retaliation and abuse, often resulting in severe human rights violations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;A reporting system should serve justice and protect public interest,&#8221; says Hwang Hyun-uk, senior researcher at Daily NK&#8217;s AND Center. &#8220;But North Korea has turned it into a tool of surveillance and repression to preserve the regime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h4><b>Authorities prioritize ideological control over informant protection<\/b><\/h4>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">The system&#8217;s flaws are evident in its reward practices &#8211; offering gifts or vacations to informants inadvertently reveals their identities. &#8220;Despite authorities promising stronger protections this year, people remain fearful of making reports,&#8221; the source revealed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">A case in Dandong, Liaoning province late last year illustrates these dangers. After reporting a colleague&#8217;s corruption, a worker vanished following separate interrogations by a North Korean embassy security agent. &#8220;There was no way for them to face their coworkers after that,&#8221; the source explained. &#8220;They returned to North Korea soon after, likely struggling with the guilt of becoming an informant.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Workers also feel a heavy burden due to concern that filing reports will worsen their workplace relations and lead to retaliation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPeople avoid snitching on colleagues even if they see them talking on the phone with outsiders to ask for daily necessities,\u201d the source said. \u201cThis could also be because they feel nervous about filing reports, but more importantly, it\u2019s because they fear ruining their relationships with their colleagues.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The source added, \u201cSince they have to live with these people when they return to North Korea one day, they don\u2019t want to make anyone their enemy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_41346\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-41346\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-41346\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1.jpg\" alt=\"chinese\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/20190703_nkwk-1-630x420.jpg 630w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-41346\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE PHOTO: In this photograph taken in June 2019, North Korean workers are seen entering a store in Dandong, China. (Daily NK)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNorth Korea\u2019s Public Reporting System Law is a means of control that violates the individual\u2019s basic rights and destroys social trust to stabilize the regime,\u201d Hwang said. \u201cThe crimes you\u2019re supposed to report are excessively broad, and the law lacks mechanisms to protect identities and secrets, exposing both informants and informees to human rights violations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">The system violates multiple international laws, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Labour Organization conventions prohibiting compulsory labor conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Forcing workers to inform on colleagues while mismanaging the reporting system creates a toxic work environment of psychological pressure and insecurity, contrary to international labor standards. Yet North Korean authorities remain focused on gathering misconduct reports rather than protecting informant identities and confidentiality.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The authorities pressure workers preparing to return home to submit more reports,&#8221; the source revealed, &#8220;bribing them with Chinese yuan or used clothing.&#8221; The manipulation extends further &#8211; managers not only carelessly expose informants but also use psychological tactics, telling workers that &#8220;superiors already know everything&#8221; to coerce additional reporting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">North Korean authorities have intensified their reporting demands since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/north-korea-2022-public-reporting-law-revealed-full\/\">amending<\/a> the Public Reporting System Law to include &#8220;reactionary thought and culture&#8221; as reportable offenses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">&#8220;They&#8217;re now fixated on reports about workplace attitudes, unauthorized outings, phone calls, internet use, ideological leanings, suspicious remarks, and complaints,&#8221; the source explained. &#8220;This has created a tense atmosphere where workers constantly watch each other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><em>Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20241125-1\/\"><em>Read in Korean<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>North Korea&#8217;s Public Reporting System Law encourages overseas workers to report their colleagues&#8217; illegal activities, but the system has proven ineffective due to inadequate informant protection and mishandling of reports. Based on Daily NK&#8217;s investigation of Chinese seafood processing plants, while direct phone lines connect factory reporting &#8220;boxes&#8221; to North Korean authorities like the embassy, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":59576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,1539],"tags":[112,273,295,740,741,743,755,779,955,1016,1024,1138,1646,1679],"class_list":["post-61968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-north-koreans-in-china","tag-human-rights","tag-corruption","tag-crime","tag-liaoning-province","tag-jilin-province","tag-factories","tag-fishing","tag-dandong","tag-workers","tag-surveillance","tag-investigation","tag-overseas-workers","tag-punishment","tag-chinese-yuan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>N. 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