Anju Links for 18 April 2008

THE LIFE IMPRISONMENT ZONE of Camp 14 is described in vivid detail by Shin Dong-Hyuk, who claims to be a survivor (by the way, hat tip to usinkorea for sending this).  Shin’s story of how  another prisoner helped him  survive interrogation in an underground dungeon is particularly touching.  The concern you always have with reports like this is that they come from a single source and can’t be independently confirmed.  Oddly enough, this  report comes by way of the Pattaya (Thailand) Daily News, which I admit to not having heard of before.  I intend to give this one a much closer read when I have time, and see if any of the details check out on Google Earth, where most of Camp 14 is now visible in hi-res.

MORE PROBLEMS WITH THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER  GUARDS:   I’ve previously blogged  about low morale, corruption, and desertion in their ranks.   Reports of banditry shouldn’t be terribly surprising, as defectors have been telling us that for years.

“On the dawn of March 27, a group of seven soldiers who look like border guards, entered the house of Pak In Sun at Dongmyong-dong 2-ban in Hoiryeong City after prying open the door of the house with a lever. They hit Mr. Pak with a blunt object and knocked him down. Then, they gagged and tided up Mrs. Pak and her son who were begging for life and robbed the house,” said Kim Chul (52, pseudonym) in an interview with a Daily NK reporter on April 5. Kim Chul was visiting relatives in Yanji, China.

Kim said, “The incident disturbed the Hoiryeong Public Security Agency and the Border Garrison, and both are under investigation.   [Daily NK]

What the citizens of Hoeryong obviously need is a better SOFA.  The politically significant fact, aside from the rise of  civilian hostility, is that this will empower the secret police to investigate the military, which  could strain the regime’s internal cohesion.  But the Daily NK reports that the local secret police chief is, unsurprisingly, a rather unpopular figure himself. 

I DON’T DOUBT THAT IDOLATRY is an expensive thing (one, two), but note the wildly inconsistent estimates of how expensive.

THEY CAN START AT FOGGY BOTTOM:  The U.S. Committee on International Religious Freedom is calling on the “international community” —  a fine oxymoron, that  — to pressure China into ceasing its forcible repatriation of North Korean refugees:

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a 49-page report that North Korea employs stringent security measures to stop the spread of religion, especially Protestant Christianity, which has connections with past U.S. intervention and modern-day South Korea.  Some of the harshest treatment is inflicted on refugees sent back to North Korea from China, the commission said.

“The forcible repatriation of refugees from China remains an issue of special concern,” said its report on North Korea, titled “A Prison Without Bars.”  “If it is discovered that they have either converted to Christianity while in China or had contact with South Koreans — both of which are considered to be political offenses — they reportedly suffer harsh interrogation, torture and ill-treatment.”  [….]  

Former North Korean security agents told the commission that authorities set up mock prayer meetings to entrap new converts in North Korea and train staff in Christian practices for the purposes of infiltrating churches in China.  [Reuters, David Morgan]

Ahem.

A REFUGEE’S STORY:  It’s a bit dated, but interesting.   A refugee tells how state-sanctioned  opium growing starved a good share of  an entire  village to death, including most of his family. 

DID SABOTAGE cause mass-casualty train wrecks?   Well,  accusations of “wrecking” are  a classic Stalinist blame-deflection method, so I’m skeptical.  I wonder if the train was insured.