In North Korea, customs agents refer to people who illegally bring in or take out personal items from official trade goods without state approval to make money. Since North Korea closed its borders following the COVID-19 outbreak, it has been reported that most smugglers are making money through official trade or state smuggling.
According to a source in Yanggang Province, NK Times reported on the 18th, the Yanggang Province Security Bureau arrested around 30 Dondeko and customs agents (Donju) in Hyesan City through intensive crackdowns between the 2nd and the 15th. They were arrested on charges of disrupting North Korea’s money circulation and exchange rate stability.
The trial of these individuals is scheduled to be held at Yeonbong Airport in Hyesan City next week, and it has been reported that judges from the Central Military Court will come down to personally oversee the trial. It is said that a decision of life imprisonment or execution is expected depending on the criminal charges.
North Korea issued a ban on the use of foreign currency in 2020, but it was ineffective and was abandoned a few months later as the internal economy became difficult. In August of last year, it issued a proclamation titled “Absolutely do not trade goods or circulate foreign currency outside the control of the state” in an attempt to block individuals’ goods from being exported outside the country through trading companies.
Afterwards, the phenomenon of illegal material transactions and foreign currency use decreased significantly, and the exchange rate stabilized, but recently, it is said that the unprecedented increase has continued again, reaching a point where the North Korean authorities cannot control it.
According to the source, as a result, food prices have risen to the same level as the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak, and residents’ dissatisfaction with the authorities has reached its peak.
The source said, “Since the recent incident of a South Korean drone infiltrating Pyongyang, the atmosphere feels like war could break out at any moment, and there are even rumors of a public execution next week, so residents are gripped by anxiety and fear, wondering ‘what are they going to do?'”
He continued, “It seems that the authorities have a tradition of executing moneylenders and watermen whenever the internal situation is difficult in order to suppress public discontent,” and pointed out, “The people arrested this time were actually just working hard to make a living, so they were treated unfairly.”
The source also claimed, “As the prices of moneylenders and food have continued to rise in recent months, public discontent with the authorities is higher than ever,” and “The public executions this time are intended to suppress public discontent.”
***This article is a translation by Google, so it may differ from the Korean version.
