Secret police officer crosses the ‘forbidden line’ with a woman in a defector’s family
Secret police officers at Pyongyang’s No. 10 Checkpoint. [Photo/ NK Times]
Recently, it was revealed that an officer from the feared secret police agency in South Hamgyong Province had been caught in an illicit relationship with a young woman in the family of a defector.
The man is reportedly a frontline officer of the Ministry of State Security, the powerful agency that reports directly to Kim Jong-un. The role of the ministry is to enforce loyalty to the regime and maintain internal discipline under the principle of “integrity.”
Instead of subjecting its officer to public disciplinary measures, the ministry handled his misconduct discreetly and swiftly demoted the offender and transferred him to the less prestigious Military Security Command, the counter-intelligence body of the Korean People’s Army, in another province.
“Earlier this month, Officer A, who had been working in the Sunam district of Hamhung, was transferred to Yeonggwang County after being found in an inappropriate relationship with a woman in her 20s from a defector’s family,” a source in the province told NK Times.
Officer A had reportedly continued the relationship for years. Initially, the two lovers met under the pretext of official duties with him ordering her to “voluntarily report if her family contacts her or sends money.” Over time, however, the relationship became personal and romantic.
Rumors led to an internal investigation at the end of September.
“He was demoted and sent to another region because if the news spread further, the State Security would lose credibility and become a laughingstock locally,” the source said.
However, locals are saying, “‘A leaking bucket at home will leak outside as well,’ and clicking their tongues in disapproval,” he said.
Kang is a reporter at NK Times, a Seoul-based media outlet focused on North Korean issues. He was born in 1978 in Chongjin and graduated from Chongjin 1st High School in North Korea. After 10 years of military service in the 4th Army Corps, he attended Chongjin Agricultural University before defecting.
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