North Korea’s state security bureau in North Hamgyong province has ordered the replacement of roughly 40% of its agents at municipal and county offices along the border in a bid to root out corruption and reinvigorate enforcement after years of disciplinary failures.
A source in the province said recently that the provincial state security bureau issued orders on March 18 to state security departments in the city of Hoeryong and the counties of Onsong and Musan directing them to replace agents aged 55 and above with younger personnel.
The personnel changes were driven by serious corruption and lapses in discipline among the agents, the source said.
“State security agents are supposed to use informants to observe trends and police anti-socialist behavior in two or three neighborhood watch units under their control. But instead of focusing on their duties, agents are often more interested in profiting from their position. These issues were reported to the Central Committee, which led to the orders to phase out the older agents.”
One factor in the staffing changes appears to have been agents’ lackluster arrest record even as foreign media — referred to as “reactionary ideology and culture” in North Korea — continues to enter the country through the border. Some agents, reports indicated, would effectively ignore prohibited behavior in exchange for bribes.
Ripple effects through the ranks
As a result, agents in the 50 to 54 age group are also anxious about losing their positions if their records contain any warnings for negligence.
“Everybody is keeping their heads down because rumor has it that all the older agents are on the chopping block. It used to be that state security agents could keep their positions until the standard retirement age. But since people are being fired simply for being too old, people think that what amounts to a generational handover is underway,” the source said.
Following the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, the winds of change appear to be blowing through the state security apparatus.
“A changing of the guard is happening not only in state security departments but also in ordinary factories and enterprises,” the source said.
Residents of border regions are anxious that replacing current agents with younger ones will bring significantly tighter surveillance and policing.
“Locals are groaning at the prospect of having to cultivate a positive relationship with the new neighborhood agent if the current one gets canned. Staying on the agent’s good side is essential if you want to avoid trouble, which makes personnel changes a serious headache,” the source said.
The source added that some locals nonetheless acknowledge the need for new agents, with one person remarking that “a cat that can’t catch rats is useless.”
In a related development, the Ministry of State Security was renamed the State Information Bureau during the first session of the Supreme People’s Assembly, with State Security Minister Ri Chang Dae introduced under the new title of director. A South Korean Ministry of Unification official said on March 24 that the name change could be intended to strengthen the body’s intelligence functions, and may also reflect an effort to make North Korea’s institutions appear more in line with those of other countries.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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