By Kim Young-jin
Sketchy details are emerging on the harsh measures underway in North Korea as new leader Kim Jong-un consolidates his power, including a reported crackdown to prevent defections across the China border.
A local daily this week quoted an activist who aids North Korean refugees as saying three would-be defectors were recently shot dead as they attempted to cross the Amnok River (Yalu River). The report followed others that Pyongyang tightened border controls before announcing the death of late ruler Kim Jong-il last month.
Despite intense scrutiny by the international community, little is known about the new North Korean leadership led by Kim Jong-un, who is the youngest son of the late despot.
“Obviously it is getting much harder to defect,” said Do Hee-yoon, whose Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees was cited in the report. He heard of the development from a source in China.
A Seoul official could not confirm the report and said it was difficult to do so as it was an internal affair of the North.
Pyongyang has moved quickly to consolidate the younger Kim’s power, rapidly elevating him as commander of its 1.2 million strong military and dubbing him “Supreme Leader.”
Concerns linger over whether Kim, thought to be in his late twenties, can undertake unquestioned control of the country. Speculation is high that a coterie of powerful aides is guiding him.
The reported border killings were the first since the start of this new Kim Jong-un era, though many North watchers believed he had ordered a crackdown while his father was still alive as his responsibilities over state affairs expanded.
Observers said it was an attempt to intimidate others from fleeing as mass defections could destabilize his fledgling regime. Suspicions also abounded that jockeying could be underway among officials to prove their loyalty to the new leader.
Many expect Kim to follow the policies of his father at least for the short- to midterm to build stability, including an iron-fisted rule over the populace maintained by a reportedly brutal security apparatus.
The Daily NK, a website monitoring the North, said Pyongyang has also banned the use of foreign currency in markets, citing sources there. Experts said it was likely another show of loyalty to the new leader as a permanent ban especially on Chinese yuan could take a heavy toll on the fragile economy.
Authorities have also stepped up efforts to jam cell phone calls across the porous China border, the website said.
Over 21,000 North Koreans have defected to the South, mostly by crossing into China and escaping through a third country. Tens of thousands more are thought to be hiding in China, where authorities repatriate defectors under a deal with Pyongyang, its ally.