＜Inside N. Korea＞Youth Missing in Large Numbers "They Left for Business or Mobilization Work and Never Returned..." Authorities Suspect Defections and Place Residents Under Emergency Surveillance

As missing person cases continue to occur in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province—a border city with China—authorities have entered a state of emergency, suspecting defections. The area across the border in China's Jilin Province, Changbai County, has many Korean-Chinese speakers and a narrow river width, making it historically favorable for North Korean defectors. However, since the COVID pandemic, strict controls have made crossing into China nearly impossible. Yet recently, missing persons cases have been occurring frequently, particularly among people in their 20s and 30s, with escapes to China being suspected. A reporting partner residing in Hyesan reported this in early June. (HONG Mari / KANG Ji-won)

◆ Missing Persons Remain Unfound

The reporting partner shared the following about recent missing person incidents:

"In ○○ district, two women aged 20 and 26 left home at the end of May saying they were going to mobilization work and still haven't returned. On June 1st, a 35-year-old discharged soldier who worked at Hyesan Mine went missing. On June 3rd, a woman who ran a business at the market left in the morning and didn't return, and I saw everyone mobilized to search for her."

None have been found yet. Authorities are strictly checking residents' movements through security posts (checkpoints) managed by people's groups installed in each district.
※ People's groups are grassroots administrative organizations, typically consisting of 20-30 households with about 60-80 people.

"Here in Hyesan, going missing means they went to China unless it's a murder case. On the 3rd of this month, there was a directive at the people's group meeting to strengthen security post operations. The assigned security officer (police) visits the posts daily to check the list of people entering and exiting."

Additionally, people's group leaders check people entering (the residential areas under their jurisdiction) more than twice daily and report to the assigned security officer. In the evenings, they go around asking whether heads of households have returned from work.

◆ Special Surveillance of Riverside Movement and 'Dangerous Individuals'

In Ryanggang Province, railways run along the Yalu River border across extensive areas. Going upstream from Hyesan, the river becomes narrower and fewer people are watching. Therefore, authorities are paying special attention to movement along the Yalu River.

"From June 2nd, the State Security Department set up a temporary post at the tunnel leading to Pocheon County (upstream) and began controlling access for non-Pocheon residents. Also, a post was established toward Goeup (downstream), making travel more cumbersome."

The Ministry of State Security (secret police) and the Ministry of Public Security are also classifying people who are absent from work or show problematic behavior as 'dangerous individuals' for surveillance.

"The Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of State Security are going around people's groups, factories, and enterprises to re-investigate 'dangerous individuals.' According to the people's group leader, there are as many as 14 people classified as 'dangerous individuals' in our people's group alone. It seems there's a system of reporting on 'dangerous individuals' more than once daily. The people's group leader informed me that I was also included among 'dangerous individuals' this time for having traveled to other regions."

◆ Directive from the Chinese Side: "Report North Korean Defectors"

Meanwhile, on the Chinese side in Changbai County, across from Hyesan, there was reportedly a directive to watch for people crossing over from North Korea.

A reporting partner residing in Changbai County said, "Since mid-May, there's been a directive to report anyone discovered crossing the river from Korea (North Korea). There are many surveillance cameras (in China), so unless they move through the mountains, getting caught is just a matter of time."

Before the COVID pandemic, over 1,000 North Korean defectors entered South Korea annually, but recently this number has dropped to around 200. Most are people who left North Korea long ago and stayed long-term in China and elsewhere, with extremely few having defected since the pandemic.

If the missing persons from Hyesan were indeed aiming to escape North Korea, we can only hope they reach safe areas like South Korea or Japan and share the latest information about conditions inside North Korea.

※ ASIAPRESS communicates with its reporting partners through Chinese cell phones smuggled into North Korea.