Mick Hartley

A North Korean police chief is demoted for "failing to revolutionize his family":

The Hoeryong police chief was recently demoted and transferred after his daughter was caught watching South Korean dramas, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK on Aug. 26 that the police chief was demoted two ranks in the organizational hierarchy as punishment for his daughter’s crime and was given a lesser assignment as a district chief.

“The provincial police bureau sent a warning to senior officials of law enforcement organizations to ensure that their homes are free of crimes related to reactionary ideology and culture,” the source explained.

“The police chief was demoted not one but two ranks, but he considers himself lucky. He’s praising the Workers’ Party’s mercy for letting him off with an unfavorable reassignment while his own daughter was watching South Korean dramas.”

The police chief’s daughter is a student in her 20s at O Jung-hup Chongjin First Teachers’ College. In late July, she and two friends were caught watching South Korean dramas on a flash drive at their dormitory near the college during a nighttime inspection by a government task force charged with monitoring anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior.

During an interrogation, law enforcement officials determined that the flash drive in question belonged to the daughter of the police chief. 

After being informed of the incident, the provincial police bureau called an emergency meeting of the provincial law enforcement organizations to stress the need for officials to “revolutionize the home” in view of their responsibility to eliminate anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior in society….

According to the source, “In North Korea, if an official is called out for failing to revolutionize his family, it can cause problems for the whole family, including distant relatives. That’s why some people are relieved not to have officials in their families. People generally think that the Hoeryong police chief has received the appropriate punishment for being lax in raising his own children.”

I'd say he was lucky not to be sent to a labour camp.

[W]hile entire families used to be sent to political prison camps for such offenses, this time the only punishment was police chief’s demotion. This indicates that anti-socialist and non-socialist behavior is so pervasive in law enforcement that there is no hope of eliminating it.

In addition to stressing the need to “revolutionize the family,” the provincial police bureau has renewed calls for anyone in possession of “reprehensible capitalist videos” to turn themselves in to the authorities.

The source said the daughter of the Hoeryong police chief was being held for questioning at the Chongjin police station. Since the North Korean government currently calls South Korea its number one enemy, she is likely to be severely punished.