| <편집자주> Daily NK seeks to investigate and report on the human rights conditions of North Korean workers dispatched overseas to China, Russia, and other countries. Currently, North Korea is focusing on earning foreign currency through dispatching workers, despite the UN Security Council’s sanctions against North Korea. It is also expected that this will be further strengthened in the future. Daily NK contributes to improving their human rights and changing the situation by collecting and covering cases of North Korean citizens who have become a means of earning foreign currency overseas while being politically and economically oppressed and having their human rights violated, and informing the international community. I want to do it. |
After North Korea enacted the ‘Crowd Reporting Act’, it began encouraging workers dispatched overseas to report illegal (illegal) activities of others, but it had little effect due to the lack of a protection system for reporters and the reasons for managers abusing reports. It is reported that it is not being collected.
In the process of closely covering seafood processing factories in China, Daily NK found that although there are reporting boxes in the factories and telephones that can directly connect with higher-ups, such as embassies, they are located in an environment that is not easy for workers to access.
A North Korean source in China who is familiar with the situation at seafood processing plants told Daily NK on the 25th, “In mid-November of last year, at a seafood processing plant in Jilin Province, an incident occurred where a person was sexually assaulted by a manager after making a report,” and added, “We received a report. “An executive called this female worker and threatened her by asking, ‘Can I tell all my colleagues that you are a spy?’”
According to sources, it is said that the worker later became a ‘mentally ill patient’ due to executives and was eventually forced to return to his country. Additionally, related facts began to spread within the factory, and a sympathetic public opinion was formed among the workers, saying, “I would have had no choice but to report it because the higher-ups told me to write something and pay it, but this is what happened in the end.”
A source said, “The structure is such that a worker who becomes an internal spy by a manager has no choice but to receive this kind of intimidation at any time,” adding, “There are quite a lot of female workers who complain that they are going crazy because they are so anxious that it is difficult to report it and it is difficult not to report it.” reported.
Meanwhile, it is pointed out that North Korea’s attempts to strengthen internal control through the Crowd Reporting Act are fraught with various problems. It is pointed out that the protection system for reporters is insufficient, that retaliation and abuse are structurally possible, and that this is leading to serious human rights violations against reporters.
Hwang Hyun-wook, senior researcher at the Daily NK AND Center, emphasized, “The original reporting system should be aimed at realizing justice and protecting the public interest, but North Korea’s crowd reporting law is acting as a tool of surveillance and oppression to maintain the system.”
Insufficient reporter protection system… North Korean authorities are only focused on collecting cases, including contact with reactionary ideology.
In particular, it has been pointed out that the reward system that gives prizes or special vacations to reporters is encouraging the identity of reporters to be exposed.
A source said, “Starting this year, training is being provided to strengthen the reporter protection system, but many people still hesitate to report because they feel anxious.”
In fact, in Dandong (丹東), Liaoning Province, at the end of last year, after a worker reported the corruption of another colleague, the security agent in charge of management dispatched from the embassy called him out, and it is said that he even suddenly disappeared at some point.
The source said, “I wonder if he would have been able to return to the workplace with his comrades and work with his face upright.” He added, “It appears that he returned to Joseon (North Korea) some time later, but he must have had a hard time feeling guilty about being a ‘people catcher.’”
In addition, it is known that workers are feeling a significant burden due to concerns about deteriorating relationships and the possibility of retaliation when reporting.
The source said, “There are cases where workers are reluctant to report even when they see workers talking to the outside world and requesting and receiving essential items. This may be due to the burden and tension of reporting, but more importantly, it is due to fear of worsening relationships with their colleagues.” He said.
At the same time, he added, “Workers also have to go back to their homeland one day and live in the face of (other people) again, so I don’t think there is any need to be an enemy of anyone.”
Researcher Hwang said, “North Korea’s crowd reporting law violates individuals’ basic rights in the name of stabilizing the system and is acting as a control measure that destroys social trust.” “The lack of mechanisms exposes both the reporter and the person being reported to the risk of human rights violations,” he said.
This legal structure seriously violates the right to freedom guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and is also contrary to the principle of ‘no work under compulsory conditions’ emphasized in the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention. Analysis comes out.
In particular, it has been pointed out that the system of forcing or abusing reporting creates psychological pressure and anxiety on workers, damaging a safe and fair working environment, and is also at odds with the labor standards demanded by the international community.
However, North Korean authorities are said to be focusing only on collecting cases rather than working harder to ensure identity or maintain confidentiality.
The source said, “Recently, they are asking people who are returning to Korea tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to write down a lot of reports,” and “they are not hesitating to offer money (Chinese yuan) or a lot of used clothes if they expose the corruption of other workers.” reported.
On the other hand, he explained, “Managers often indirectly revealed that they were the reporters,” adding, “It is a strategy to induce reporting by putting pressure on workers by making them feel like the higher-ups know everything even if they don’t say it.”
Meanwhile, it is reported that in 2022, when North Korea revised its Crowd Reporting Act and added ‘inflow of reactionary ideology culture’ as a reporting item, it further encouraged reports related to this. (Read related article: Revised North Korean Crowd Reporting Act obtained… Reporting ‘threats to the personal security of the supreme leadership’ is a top priority)
In relation to this, the source said, “Recently, things like neglect of work, going out outside the rules, making illegal calls, contacting the Internet, ideological trends, suspicious remarks, complaints, etc. are mainly being reported,” adding, “As a result, the atmosphere is becoming more conscious of each other.” “The situation is becoming tense,” he said of the local atmosphere.
Daily NK planning and reporting team = Reporter Lee Sang-yong (AND Center Director), Hwang Hyun-wook, AND Center Senior Researcher
Source: www.dailynk.com
