Recently, it has been reported that the Musan County Security Department in North Hamgyong Province is encouraging voluntary reporting by saying, “If you confess to using Chinese mobile phones (cellular phones), you will be exempted from punishment.” However, residents are said to be snorting, saying, “Where is the ‘fool’ who would give up their rice bowls?”
According to Daily NK’s North Hamgyong Province source on the 16th, on the 4th, a Ministry of State Security lecture was held in a people’s unit in Musan-eup, Musan County, demanding that anyone who possessed or used a Chinese mobile phone turn themselves in. The source said that lectures like this were held simultaneously throughout Musan County.
It is said that the security guard who appeared as a lecturer at the lecture made semi-threatening remarks such as, “If the party says they will forgive you, give me your Chinese mobile phone,” “If you are caught using it secretly even when given the chance, it will be of no use begging for help,” and “Think carefully about why the people around you disappeared and where they seem to have gone.”
It has also been reported that the security guard tried to persuade him by saying, “If you keep the Chinese cell phone for fear of being punished, you will commit a bigger crime in the future, so turning yourself in is the way to lessen your crime and be forgiven.”
In addition, the commissioner is said to have emphasized mutual monitoring and active reporting among residents, saying, “If you see someone using a Chinese mobile phone around you, report it promptly.”
However, the source said that the residents who attended the lecture did not seem to be agitated at all. The residents’ opinion is that they would not be able to easily give up their Chinese cell phones since they would have no way of making a living without them.
After the actual lecture, residents reportedly responded by saying things like, “There’s no one who would give up their rice bowl,” “If I give up my means of survival, who will feed me?” “If I turn myself in and hand over my cell phone, it’s obvious they’ll sell it there (the security guards),” and “The only way to survive is to strongly deny it.”
“There aren’t many people who would fall for the promise of forgiveness if they turn themselves in,” the source said. “Some people are even saying, ‘Turning yourself in with a cell phone is like asking for bullets on a battlefield.’”
The fact that North Korean authorities are encouraging people to turn themselves in at a time when they are cracking down on the use of Chinese mobile phones in order to block information leaks and defections appears to be evidence that the authorities themselves are aware that there are still many residents who secretly use Chinese mobile phones.
Source: www.dailynk.com
