Ministry of State Security and Defense Security Bureau crackdown leads to rise in remittance fees, up to 50%

The fees paid by people sending money to their families in North Korea have gone up 10 percent in the last month and now stand at as much as half of the amount being sent.
The change is a consequence of increased inspections by the Ministry of State Security and the Defense Security Bureau.
“Recently in Hyesan City, remittance fees have risen to as much as 50%, a level comparable to the period during the COVID-19 lockdown,” said a source from North Hamgyong Province, quoted in a report in NK Times.
“The increase in remittance fees began in late December, when inspections by the Ministry of State Security and the Defense Security Bureau were initiated,” he said. Within a month, in Hyesan 14 residents and 3 soldiers from the 27th Division were arrested. They are currently undergoing intense interrogations.
“Because of this situation, phone brokers are unwilling to send money to risky individuals, and this has led to the rise in remittance fees,” he said, referring to remittance brokers. “Even finding a broker willing to send money has become difficult.”
At the start of the pandemic, North Korea enacted what are known as the ‘Three Major Bad Laws,’ the Anti-Reactionary Thought Law, the Youth Education Protection Law, and the Pyongyang Culture Protection Law, which have strengthened the regime’s crackdown on anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior. The State Security Ministry conducts quarterly inspections of border regions every year, during which numerous residents are arrested and sent to political prison camps or labor correctional facilities. Some are reportedly executed.
Despite this, illegal activities such as the use of Chinese mobile phones, remittances, smuggling, leaking internal information, and viewing external content have continued unabated. To address this, in late December, the Ministry of State Security was reinforced with additional agents from the Defense Security Bureau to intensify control over the population in the border areas. These agents have the right to execute individuals without trial, a power that has heightened fear and anxiety among the residents.
“If you get caught by the Ministry of State Security or the Defense Security Bureau, you should give up on returning home alive.,” the source said. “This explains why brokers are seeking to profit by handling more stable, verified cases that do not involve defectors.”