North Korean authorities are reportedly intensifying crackdowns on Chinese mobile phones, which serve as a means of communication with foreign countries. According to a reporting partner living in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, a public trial was held in early August. A resident who connected family members in South Korea and within North Korea using a Chinese mobile phone was sentenced to 10 years of correctional labor (imprisonment). The Kim Jong-un regime, which strongly opposes its citizens communicating with foreign countries, is imposing heavy sentences as an example to eradicate the use of Chinese mobile phones. (HONG Mari / KANG Jiwon)
◆ Daughter as Main Culprit, Parents Given Correctional Labor to Set An Example
The border between North Korea and China stretches about 1400 kilometers. Chinese communication signals can be received in the border areas. For about 20 years, there has been a surge in people using smuggled Chinese mobile phones to communicate with foreign countries such as South Korea and Japan. This is illegal in North Korea. The reporting partner who provided this information also uses a Chinese smartphone. The following is a Q&A with the reporting partner:
Q: Please talk about what happened at the public trial.
A: It was held on August 7 at the Namun-dong stadium in Hoeryong. Initially, we were told to participate because there would be a public execution. About 250-300 people were mobilized from various organizations, and I was also required to attend. In reality, no execution was carried out. Instead, a family of three - parents and a daughter - were sentenced to 8, 9, and 10 years of correctional labor respectively.
Q: What was the crime?
A: They were accused of colluding with hostile forces and receiving money by using a Chinese mobile phone. They allegedly connected defectors living in South Korea with families of defectors in the Kilju and Hamhung areas via Chinese mobile phone more than twice and received payment for it.
The daughter owned the Chinese mobile phone, and the parents were implicated as accomplices to set an example. The daughter's husband apparently avoided correctional labor as he had never actually touched the phone and said he would divorce her.
◆ 'Report Acts That Undermine Socialism'
Q: What explanation did the authorities give at the trial?
A: At the public trial, an official from the City Security Department (police) said, "Subversive elements are still active within our society. Everyone should increase their vigilance and promptly report acts that undermine socialism from within. Those using Chinese mobile phones should turn themselves in now." Since I use one too, I was scared, feeling like everyone was looking at me.
They also publicly declared that if anyone leaks internal information or cooperates with the enemy's schemes using Chinese mobile phones, they will face severe judgment and even the possibility of execution.
◆ Eradicate Chinese Mobile Phones
Q: What do you think about these crackdowns?
A: It's terrifying that they're giving 10 years of correctional labor just for contacting family and receiving money, even though it's not a state security case (political crime). It shows they're determined to root out Chinese mobile phones and won't tolerate their use. I heard that even the Chinese Korean who cooperated was expelled. After this public trial, many remittance brokers are saying they'll quit.
◆ 5 Years of Correctional Labor in Musan, Too
Additionally, a reporting partner living in Musan County, North Hamgyong Province, conveyed that the crackdown on Chinese mobile phones is intensifying there as well:
"If caught possessing a Chinese mobile phone, it's now a minimum of 5 years of correctional labor. They're also conducting house searches on people with expenditures that don't match their income, investigating how they're living (why they're living well). People even have to be careful about what they eat at home."
※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.
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