NK moving to toughen monitoring to stop defections

By Kang Seung-woo

Following the defection of Thae Yong-ho, North Korea’s deputy ambassador in London, the repressive state is showing signs of tightening controls on diplomats and laborers sent overseas to earn foreign currency.

According to sources familiar with North Korean affairs, Friday, family members of diplomats and laborers have been summoned home ― an apparent move to take them “hostage” to prevent further defections.

“South Korean intelligence authorities are keeping tabs on such moves,” said a source without elaborating.

The senior diplomat ― one of the highest-level North Koreans to desert the country ― is known to have fled the isolationist regime with his family.

According to the South Korean unification ministry, Thae is believed to have decided to defect for a better future for his children and because of his disillusionment with the North Korean regime under leader Kim Jong-un.

In line with the move, the North is expected to prevent diplomats from working overseas with their families, according to U.S.-based Radio Free Asia (RFA).

“North Korean diplomats could decide to defect and flee abroad if they are accompanied by their family,” the RFA said, citing a source. “In this respect, the system allowing them to go abroad with their family may be abolished.”

Kim Cheol-sung, a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in Russia, who allegedly escaped to South Korea in July, also came here with his wife and son.

The North has allowed diplomats to stay abroad with their families since 2009.

The RFA also reported that the North Korean foreign ministry, in charge of diplomats, may face extensive censorship and scrutiny.

In the wake of a series of defections, the North Korean leader is said to have sent security agents overseas to monitor government officials and business personnel.

The leader has also ordered the execution of those who failed to prevent the recent defections, according to a source familiar with the regime.

“Kim has threatened an immediate pullout of overseas business operations that fail to perform,” the source said, adding that he has ordered tighter crackdowns on North Koreans watching smuggled DVDs of South Korean dramas and other programs.

In April, 13 North Koreans working at a North Korean government-run restaurant in China fled to South Korea, leading the country to send some 800 security agents to areas bordering China in a bid to beef up monitoring of foreign workers.

“Thae’s defection may have been a huge psychological shock to the North Korean leadership because he is one of the highest-ranking diplomats,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute. “So, his defection may bring about the regime toughening its monitoring on diplomats and laborers.”