Secret Defections

[Anchor Lead]

It’s no surprise that North Korea frequently withholds information from its people. But a KBS interview with a North Korean resident revealed that the regime was making a concerted effort to keep defections of its elite officials a secret to the public.

[Pkg]

This North Korean border area resident claimed in a telephone interview to be unaware of the defection of Thae Yong-ho, Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to London.

[Soundbite] N. Korean Border Area Resident(Voice Altered) : "Deputy ambassador to the U.K. Thae Yong-ho has defected to South Korea. This is the first time I've heard about it. None of the other residents know either.'

What's more, the interviewee had never heard news about the execution of Vice Premier Kim Yong-jin or the defections of high-level North Korean military officials. However, the interviewee was aware that the group defection of 13 North Korean restaurant workers in China was a voluntary act.

[Soundbite] N. Korean Border Area Resident(Voice Altered) : "Ordinary people in the border area do not believe they were kidnapped. But residents in Pyongyang still believe they were abducted."

Pyongyang has strengthened crackdowns on defections and subsequent punishment. Anyone caught attempting to escape, even once, is reportedly sentenced to life imprisonment.

[Soundbite] N. Korean Border Area Resident(Voice Altered) : "It's difficult to defect. If you're caught, you are not let out. It's said that you will be sent to a correctional institute for life.'

North Korea is also tightening control on information and ideologies, cracking down on residents who share outside news, an act which is deemed to be "verbal rebellion."