Multiple sources have told Open Radio for North Korea that many of the North Korean citizens who were pardoned by the general amnesty which was issued to celebrate Kim Il Sung’s birthday last April have been arrested once again. Furthermore, the authorities have gone as far as to kidnap Chinese traders to help them in their investigation of these amnestied citizens.

 

A source from inside Sinuiju said, “A number of individuals who were released during Kim Il Sung’s 100th birthday and Kim Jong Il’s 70th birthday were summoned for reinvestigation.” The full-scale recall and inquiry began last April, shortly after the ‘Day of the Sun’ - which celebrates the Kim Il Sung’s birth.

 

During the run up to the Day of the Sun, the regime attempted to ingratiate itself to the people by undertaking a large-scale pardoning. However, it seems these people were almost immediately rounded up and brought back in for investigation once again.

 

The first to be arrested consisted mostly of those who had been detained for attempting to defect. Information regarding their whereabouts and safety has not been provided to their family members.

 

Another source from Yangkang Province said that Korean-Chinese traders have been affected by the action as well. The North Korean National Security Agency is capturing anyone, including Chinese nationals, involved in the defection process.

 

To obtain witnesses in cases against the accused, the authorities are enticing and kidnapping Korean-Chinese smugglers and traders, the source reported. The National Security Agency forces the detained to falsely order goods from the Chinese smugglers and then arrests them once they cross the border with the requested items.

 

Kim, a Korean-Chinese trader in Changbai prefecture, Jilin province, who has been smuggling goods into North Korea for over ten years said, “I know at least eight Korean-Chinese traders who have been captured in North Korea.”

 

Commonly, the NSA repatriates these traders back to China after forcing them to extract a confession stating that they cooperated in the defection process during specified periods. However, the source stated, no one has been returned since April.