It has been reported that the Hyesan City Labor Training Camp in North Korea’s Yanggang Province is suddenly calling back residents who were previously sent home after receiving bribes and forcing them to work at the camp.
On the 18th, Daily NK’s Yanggang Province source reported, “The Hyesan City Labor Training Camp suddenly notified residents who had been paid to spend time at the camp at their homes on the 9th to return to the camp by the next day.” “Instructors from the camp visited homes that could not be reached by phone to notify them, so it was truly an emergency situation.”
North Korea’s labor training camps are usually forced labor punishments for minor crimes that carry a sentence of less than six months. However, as long as you have money, you can live at home and spend your time in the camp without being forced to do labor, so corruption is reported to be common.
The number of residents who returned to the training camp due to the sudden notice this time reached about 20, the source said. This means that many residents are bribing to avoid the training camp.
They reportedly returned to the training camp on the 10th after being told by the training captain and other instructors, “You may be inspected, so return. You can leave after just a day or two.”
A source said, “People with money don’t have to live in the training camp after committing a serious crime and bribing them to change it to a misdemeanor and sending them to the training camp for punishment. They do business with the training camp and bribe them again, because they can just live at home and go to the training camp on the last day of their sentence to get their seal stamped.”
The bribe they pay in exchange for not having to live in the training camps has increased from 500 yuan to 1,000 yuan per month since COVID-19, and they also have to give up various other things they demand, the source explained. The bribe is not cheap, but people try to avoid living in the training camps if possible, the source said.
Even in the training camp, they send out residents in exchange for money, but sometimes, when the Ministry of Public Safety and Security or other judicial agencies announce an inspection, they quickly bring in the number of people specified in the document and the number of people on site to match, and then they send them out again, committing corruption.
However, it is known that this time, it was urgently brought back as a precaution against any eventuality following Chairman Kim Jong-un’s on-site guidance in Samjiyon City.
However, even after Chairman Kim returned after completing his on-site guidance, the residents are said to have not been released and are still being held in the training camps. This is a completely different situation from what they said they would be released in a day or two.
Regarding this, a source said, “During his recent inspection of Samjiyon City, the Marshal (Chairman Kim) strongly reprimanded the cadres and instructed that some cadres be referred to the legal authorities for review, so the legal authorities in Hyesan City are all on edge,” adding, “Until the frozen atmosphere is thawed, they have no choice but to continue their training camp life.”
The source reported that internal discontent is growing among residents and their families who have been paying considerable bribes to spend their time in the training camps at home.
“These days, the atmosphere is tense and the intensity of labor at the training camps is getting higher,” the source said. “Residents who pay to participate in this labor are anxiously waiting for the day they can go home with their mouths open.”
Source: www.dailynk.com
