An increasingly large number of suicides are occurring within the ranks of the Hyesan branch of the National Security Agency (NSA), with a number of agents apparently choosing to kill themselves because they fear punishment during an ongoing investigation into defections in the city.
The Daily NK reported news of the investigation into the abetting of defection by border guard on June 6th.
A source from Hyesan revealed the news yesterday, saying, “On the 11th, an NSA agent responsible for the Kanggu area of Hyesan committed suicide at his office. In one soldier’s testimony during the process of an investigation into the border guard unit, it came out that he had aided smuggling and defections, and had taken bribes. Out of fear of punishment, he killed himself.”
According to the source, there has recently been one other similar case in the city. In that instance, an NSA agent responsible for the Wuiyeon area killed himself at his house during April, apparently during an NSA investigation centering on the fact that an abnormally large number of defector families were there.
In another instance, NK Intellectuals Solidarity recently reported a case from February, where an NSA agent covering the Songbong area of the city killed himself at the time of his arrest by smashing his head into a wall. In that case, however, the NSA investigation was focused around the sale of 1kg of narcotics.
This is causing tension in the city, the source went on, explaining, “They are warning people not to gossip to others about issues related to the National Security Agency. The rumor now circulating is that there will be an in depth investigation by the central Party soon, so the feeling here is uneasy.”
In North Korea, a local NSA agent is responsible for roughly 1,000 households or less. Through roughly 40 or 50 people’s unit heads and Women’s Union cadres, the agent obtains information on the activities of local people and passes on instructions to them, thus playing a key role in the preservation of the system.
For smugglers and defectors, stepping outside this surveillance net is both important, and also hard. For that reason, smugglers commonly buy off NSA agents. Sources and defectors both agree that abetting defection is rarer, since it is punished more harshly, with whole extended families facing extreme consequences.
Ordinary city residents, meanwhile, are not sad to see the back of any agent who takes his own life, the source added, pointing out that they are one of the most hated groups in North Korea.
