The ASIAPRESS reporting partner said that one family interrogated by the State Security Department had offered up a false confession that started:
Our missing daughter said several times that she would drown herself. She told us that she couldn’t hold on to life anymore. Then she suddenly disappeared. We don’t know where she is.
Investigation into missing person’s whereabouts aims to beef up surveillance of the border regions as part of a broader effort to hinder any further defections.
But the resumption of these investigations is likely to negatively influence public opinion on the government.
Related article : DPRK high-ranking state officials ordered to attend seminar against escaping the country: frequent escapes concern Kim regime
A man who escaped the North in 2011 and resettled in South Korea explained, “The state knows that many residents near the Sino-North Korean border have fled. [With renewed investigations] border town residents are likely to become quite frustrated and there’s a possibility of unrest toward the regime if the authorities try to force matters with the locals..
※ ASIAPRESS uses China-based phones to contact ASIAPRESS reporting partners inside North Korea.
* Editor’s notes on North Korean reporters
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