There have been recent reports that North Korean security officials have been openly asking for money from residents to raise ‘loyalty funds’.
A source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on the 15th, “Recently, the security guards in Sinuiju have been going around to houses that are likely to provide money and openly asking for money in order to carry out tasks assigned to them with loyalty funds.”
According to sources, North Korea’s Ministry of State Security issued an order to security agencies across the country early this month to set up a fund called “loyalty funds.”
Accordingly, it has been reported that provincial security bureaus and city/county security departments across the country have begun implementing loyalty fund plans by agency, and the Sinuiju Security Department has relayed instructions from the Ministry of State Security to each department, ordering each department to pay $700.
It is said that the security department department heads divided the planned amount according to the number of people in their departments and imposed a quota on each security officer, and instructed them to voluntarily pay any amount exceeding the quota.
In North Korea, the level of loyalty fund payment is considered a measure of loyalty to the party and the state, so the security guards risk their lives cracking down on residents to secure the allocated funds and openly demand money, the source explained.
A source said, “The only way for the security guards to raise money is to crack down on residents doing illegal business and take bribes or threaten them by finding fault with them.” He added, “For this reason, the security guards go around looking for smugglers or money transfer brokers and demand money out of the blue. The number of them is so great that it’s painful.”
In particular, it has been reported that some security guards are even going so far as to threaten people who were previously caught using illegal Chinese cell phones but later released after receiving bribes, saying, “We let you off the hook last time, so now pay us.”
In fact, there was a case earlier this month where a resident of Sinuiju City was caught using a Chinese cell phone a few years ago and was released after paying a ransom, only to be visited by the security guard who had caught him at the time and demanded $100.
When the resident refused, saying he had no money, the security guard reportedly threatened him, saying, “I know what kind of business you’re running these days. I can put you in jail right now.” The source said the resident had no choice but to give him the money.
In addition, it has been reported that security guards visit the homes of North Korean defectors’ families and blatantly demand money, and also hang around the homes of remittance brokers and pretend to have received reports to extort money.
The source said, “Here (North Korea), loyalty is the most important evaluation criterion, so the security agents are picking the pockets of the people by any means necessary,” adding, “Ultimately, the state is the one making the security agents do these acts of intimidation and extortion.”
Source: www.dailynk.com
