International Surveillance

[Anchor Lead]

With many members of the North Korean elite defecting from the country recently, Pyongyang has dispatched inspection teams to various countries to intensify surveillance. Let’s take a look.

[Pkg]

A source dealing with North Korea said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has dispatched inspectors to various corners of the world to crack down on workers at North Korean embassies and trade firm employees stationed overseas. He also ordered that all suspicious figures be withdrawn immediately. The source added that Kim Jong-un has ordered thorough inspections of personal computers and even mobile phones, as he is outraged by the string of defections by North Koreans stationed abroad. The dispatched inspectors are checking the tax payments of overseas North Korean institutions and the living expenses of their staff. Inspectors from the State Security Department also checked portable IT devices. The inspectors are also intensifying surveillance on the families of diplomats and trade firm employees stationed abroad by ordering them to return to the North. The source said that the ongoing surveillance is of an unprecedented scale, which indicates a sense of crisis in North Korea due to successive recent defections.