North Korea sent about 50 agents from the State Security Department, an autonomous agency reporting directly to leader Kim Jong-un, to China on Feb. 22 to crack down on defectors, it was reported Monday. This is an exceptional number although the North had cracked down on defectors in its neighboring country before.
“North Korea’s security agents were sent to China on Feb. 22 through the border between Hoeryeong in North Hamgyeong Province and Sanhe in China,” the Daily NK, an Internet Website run by opponents of North Korea, quoted a source in North Hamgyeong Province, as saying. Sanhe is located in Longjing City , the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province.
“The authorities have instructed them to root our defectors in China,” the source said. “I believe that the State Security Department has sent long-time spies to China.”
The agents have details of North Korean defectors in China, such as their major residential areas and defecting routes based on investigation of defectors repatriated for the past 17 years since 1995 when the issue surfaced. They will crack down on them based on the information, according to the source.
As a result, the North Koreans are expected to search for defectors in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang Province, and Jilin, the capital of Jilin Province as well as initial hideouts in Yenji, Wangching and Longjing in the autonomous prefecture.
It has not been confirmed whether the activity of the agents is being done under the agreement between the two countries or not.
“It is highly probable that security agents have embarked on crackdown of defectors unofficially under the connivance with the Chinese authorities as their activities may break international law,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University.