Workplaces tasked with handing criminal suspects
A security agent monitors university students. [Photo/ NK Times]
North Korean police authorities have taken steps to delegate the handling of criminal suspects to workplaces.
According to a source in North Hamgyong Province on the 9th, local Public Security Departments received a directive on April 1 instructing them to “hand over criminals and legal violators to workers or guardians of the affiliated factories or enterprises for control and management.”
The directive contained specific guidelines that included the transfer of data concerning a lawbreaker to the relevant personnel in the institution or enterprise, and the release of the individuals in question only after they sign a dambo-seo (written guarantee) promising not to re-offend.
It seems that vagrants and unemployed people are also to be handed over to work institutions.
People who have engaged in unruly behavior while under the influence of alcohol are to undergo ideological reeducation and forced labor, after which they must submit a dambo-seo pledging to thoroughly reform themselves and not engage in such behavior again as a condition for release.
Additionally, the directive emphasizes that data on criminals and violators must be delivered through local security departments to relevant party organizations, labor groups, and educational institutions to ensure responsible ideological education and oversight.
Though the order is ostensibly aimed at crime prevention, the source said the contradictory nature of some parts of the directive has caused considerable confusion.
For example, the order includes instructions not to disclose sensitive information, such as data on individuals subject to criminal proceedings, unverified information, and individual surveillance reports, while at the same time calling for legal efforts to prevent prejudice and discrimination against suspects.
Specifically, institutions are instructed not to reject or avoid placement of individuals who have been released from reform institutions or those who are deemed high-risk for criminal behavior, nor to forcibly retire, mistreat, or ostracize them.
“This order seems to be an attempt to take a new approach to managing and controlling criminals,” the source said. “But the cadres are confused about who they’re supposed to take responsibility for and who to reject.”
“They are particularly bewildered because they are told to monitor criminals while simultaneously being told to avoid bias,” he said. “This kind of contradictory policy always gives officials headaches.”
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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