Shenyang, China — One man from Shinuiju in his 20s faces execution after being accused, apparently at random, by the National Security Agency of leaking information on November’s currency redenomination.
A Daily NK source from Shinuiju reported today, “Mr. Kang was arrested on suspicion of communicating by mobile phone with South Korea from Shinuiju in April, and the day of his execution has been fixed after interrogators claimed to have confirmed suspicions that he released the story of the currency redenomination.”
Mr. Kang was working as a driver delivering products to the jangmadang.
The source said he got his information on Mr. Kang directly from an NSA official, explaining that he heard Mr. Kang “was suspected of leaking information on the currency redenomination, but he got caught in April. Nobody knows what happened during the two-month long interrogation, but there is a high possibility that he was forced to confess.”
The reason why the source made such a presumption was because the NSA official also told him, “He was treated harshly. It is natural to be unlucky once.” The official reportedly added that the case is being treated as espionage.
The North Korean authorities have recently devoted themselves to public security issues, setting up special guards under the People’s Safety Ministry. Especially due to a heightened crackdown over cell phone usage, Daily NK sources are holding their breath.
In February, an 80 year-old woman was caught on suspicion of espionage while she was begging in the jangmadang. People said that there was a listening device in her baggage and that every night she passed the recorded data to the South by cell phone.
Early in May, a manager from Anbyeon Power Plant was reportedly also arrested for the same reason.
The Anbyeon Power Plant was notorious for starvation and accidents during its construction in the mid-1990s, with the area coming to be known as “the river bank of death.” Around 30,000 soldiers involved in the construction are said to have died of starvation or in accidents.
Tha Daily NK can confirm that all its sources are safe as of the time of writing.
