The North Korean regime has recently taken steps to strengthen the surveillance and control of North Korea people’s in an attempt to counteract verbal complaints.

 

A source from Hoiryeong said, “recently, criticisms from citizens, high-ranking officials, and the elite against the North Korean system, Kim Jong Eun and his people are spreading, so the government started to undertake countermeasures.” According to the source, the North Korean regime are clamping down on gripes by taking strong legal action against people who spread complaints against the socialist system and the leadership.

 

The source said, “Through the last Saturday lecture meeting on October 26th we learned that all party departments have stated that they will take control over people who spread any rumors which criticize the system and the leadership.” They also said, “Report anyone who are doing this.”

 

Before the mid-1990s’ March of Tribulation, the North Korean government generally tried to strongly control people’s verbal criticisms. The source, however, stated that after that time the government found it difficult to pursue people’s criticisms against the North Korean society and the system because of the extreme food shortage and hard living conditions. The regime was unable to control those criticisms.

 

Therefore, the source said, “the North Korean people thought there would be no more legal actions against verbal criticisms. However, since the beginning of the Kim Jong Eun regime, the control over contempt has increased so people are now careful about that.”

 

The recent appearance of the regime’s control over verbal criticisms seems to be related to the increasing complaints of North Korean people against the regime. However, according to the source, North Korean people are saying that because they have waited for 2012’s Strong and Great Country, which the regime put a lot of emphasis on, but nothing has been accomplished. The source also reported that there are complaints spreading among people that Kim Jong Eun has presented the new economic policies for reform, but the rise of exchange rates and extreme food shortages has accompanied the lack of reforms.

 

The source also added that there are even criticisms among the people against Kim Jong Eun and his wife. A high volume of complaints are coming out saying that Kim Jong Eun and his wife are immature children. Some people are saying that Chosun is a kingdom only for Kim Jong Eun and his family. It seems that because of this situation, the North Korean regime have announced they will legally pursue ‘verbal counteraction.’

 

However, North Korean people who have heard about this measure are saying that the regime’s attempts will not be effective. The source said that the North Korean people are not responding to the actions on surface, but their reactions underneath are like, “we are talking the truth, but why is it verbal counteraction?” and “it is true that life is much harder than it was in the Kim Jong Il time. Why do they keep talking about things like verbal counteraction?” Also, the source gave the opinion that, “although the regime enforces legal punishment and controls, it cannot control people’s thoughts or minds,” and said that there are increasing numbers of people who are mocking the measures.