Mick Hartley

The "anti-socialist" crusade in North Korea has become a paranoid national obsession. From the Daily NK:

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on July 9 that the Ministry of Social Security, the Ministry of State Security and the Central Prosecutors Office recently collaborated in drafting a notice on “intensifying the partywide struggle to firmly smash the enemies’ plots to strangle the republic and thoroughly eliminate anti-socialist and non-socialist acts.”

The cooperation of the three main law enforcement organizations behind the draft notice is aimed at preventing young people from drifting away from the ruling ideology.

In the draft notice, the three organizations said that “the ideology of our enemies is cleverly infiltrating our youth” and stressed the need to “eradicate the resistance to admitting anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior committed in the past on the assumption that nobody knows about it.”

North Korean authorities appear to be stepping up their crackdown on forbidden behavior after concluding that the “Youth Education Guarantee Act,” which was enacted in September 2021 to tighten ideological control over young people, has not been entirely successful in keeping young people in the ideological fold.

“Despite harsher punishments, young people are still avoiding hardship posts and engaging in various illegal behaviors, such as usury and smuggling. The government believes that if young people are contaminated with capitalist ideology, the future of the revolution will be jeopardized,” the source said.

They could be right about that.

Meanwhile:

North Korea has recently intensified its crackdown on the viewing and distribution of foreign media, particularly targeting South Korean content. In a recent case in Kaechon, South Pyongan Province, two individuals received severe sentences for their involvement with South Korean videos.

A source in South Pyongan Province, speaking anonymously for security reasons, revealed on Sunday that two individuals were harshly sentenced earlier this month. A man in his 30s, identified as “A,” received seven years of “reform through labor” for borrowing an SD card containing South Korean films. “B,” a woman in her 50s who lent the card, was sentenced to 15 years.

B’s sentence was notably harsher due to her conviction for both possessing and distributing South Korean media. The pair were arrested in May when police raided A’s home, catching him watching the borrowed content. During questioning, A implicated B, leading to her arrest.