By Jun Ji-hye
North Korea has begun a massive crackdown on its people and has tightened security along its border with China with just a week before the start of the seventh congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, sources said, Friday.
The Kim Jong-un regime also has been restricting entry into the capital Pyongyang and has ordered residents not to hold ceremonial occasions such as weddings or funerals.
The party is scheduled to hold the congress on May 6 ― the first time in 36 years, since the four-day congress in 1980 under the rule of Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of Kim Jong-un.
Sources say complaints from North Korean people are increasing because the regime’s “special surveillance” is causing enormous trouble to their work and livelihoods.
The measures appear to be aimed at creating an atmosphere of fear before the event, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is apparently seeking to reaffirm his tight grip on power and build the foundations for a prolonged one-man rule.
The regime also apparently believes that such measures can reduce crime before the national event.
“The North has completely blocked its capital and the border area after declaring a special surveillance period,” a source told the Yonhap News Agency. “The regime is conducting random inspections of houses in Pyongyang and ordering visitors, including relatives, to immediately return to their own homes.”
The source said those who refuse to comply will be treated as “rebellious elements” and face severe punishment, including forced labor.
Another source said authorities from the security department are inspecting factories and institutes, checking when workers come to and leave work.
Those who are absent or late, or leave early, are asked to write down their reasons, the source said, adding the regime also has been strengthening traffic controls in the capital.
Unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said in a regular briefing: “North Korea seems to have increased its vigilance in areas, including Pyongyang.”
He said the move appears to be aimed at raising security to allow smooth preparations for the party congress.
Pyongyang has been forcibly mobilizing residents to prepare for the event, during which the regime wants to continue promoting idolization of Kim Jong-un and eulogize his achievements, such as improving nuclear capabilities, according to the ministry.
The communist state is forcing people to pay money and work night and day to build facilities designed to display Kim’s achievements, it said.
However, the people hold out little hope for better economic conditions, which have been deteriorating since the United Nations Security Council imposed harsher sanctions in early March for the regime’s nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, the ministry said.
According to the National Intelligence Service, many North Koreans are expressing skepticism about the nuclear program, asking questions such as, “What is the use of nuclear weapons when people are not able to put food on the table?”