It was belatedly reported that an incident occurred in the mid-to-late last month in the area of Uiju-gun, North Pyongan Province, where a father and son were arrested by border guards while trying to cross the river together to China. This incident is noteworthy because it is an example of how North Korean residents are continuing to try to escape from North Korea even as the authorities are strengthening border crackdowns.
According to Daily NK’s North Pyongan Province source on the 24th, the incident occurred in the Uiju-gun border area around the 20th of last month. The father, who had been mobilized as a shock trooper for flood recovery construction, attempted to cross the river with his son who had come to visit him, but was discovered and arrested by a border guard patrol boat in the middle of the Yalu River.
It is said that the father who was arrested this time was evaluated as a diligent worker in the shock brigades. The source said that his son, who came to visit him, was struggling in many ways because he was in debt and was physically ill. However, as there was no immediate solution, he eventually decided to defect from North Korea together and actually did it, according to the source.
The source said, “The incident in which the father and son attempted to cross the river occurred while the border guard soldiers were sharper than ever due to the shock troops working near the river day and night.”
North Korean authorities have recently been significantly strengthening border crackdowns in order to thoroughly block changes in the mindset of the internal residents and subsequent defection. In particular, it is said that the level of surveillance is being raised even more recently as damage recovery construction work involving a large number of people is underway in the area facing China.
In fact, the border guard soldiers are on high alert as they continue to receive orders from superiors to ‘be alert to illegal activities at the border and make every effort to be on guard duty’, raising the possibility that residents’ attempts to defect from North Korea will be discovered.
The source said, “The border guard caught the crossing at night and sent a patrol boat to arrest the two people. When they were discovered, the father and son had swum more than halfway across the river, each holding a 5-liter water bottle.”
When this incident became known, it was said that the reaction within the shock troop was that the father, who had a reputation as a sincere and trustworthy person, had been chain-smoking ever since he met his son, sighing, staring at the river, and ended up causing an accident.
The arrested father and son were initially investigated by the border guard and have now been transferred to the provincial security bureau.
The source said, “This incident is already known to many people within the shock brigades, so it seems likely that they will be severely punished in the style of punishing one punishment and punishing the other,” and added, “Depending on the ruling on whether or not they have ideological degeneration, they may be sent to a correctional center, but in severe cases, they may be sent to a kwanliso (political prisoner). “There is a possibility of being taken to a concentration camp,” he said.
The source said, “It is natural for residents who cannot see a way out in a difficult and painful situation to think about various things while looking at the bustling China across the border,” adding, “The government is also aware that this environment is a factor encouraging residents to defect from North Korea.” “As we know very well, the punishment for these border crossers will be more severe than ever before,” he added.
Source: www.dailynk.com
