North Korean authorities on March 15 incarceratedI ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
the commander of one of the country’s border defense regiments, who is alleged to have embezzled funds earned in a state-sanctioned car smuggling scheme.
Sources say the arrest seems out of place, as smuggling is rampant along the border with China, and carried out by or with the connivance of state agencies.
Residents find it odd for authorities of North Korea, which rejects the international trade sanctions that the smuggling is trying to evade, to be suddenly concerned about the smuggling trade, leading some to believe that is the result of political tension, while others believe it is a simple cash grab.
"The commander of the border defense regiment from the Hyesan area was arrested by the defense security command [on the 15th]. He has continually been involved in car smuggling, and [the authorities] didn’t seem to care. But then suddenly a crackdown has begun," said a source from Yanggang province to RFA’s Korean Service on March 16.
"Many people have doubts about the reasons for the [sudden] crackdown," said the source.
The source explained that Hyesan, situated on the southernmost point of Yanggang province’s border with China, has been a traditional hotbed for the smuggling business, where authorities either look the other way, or even assist smuggling operations.
"People here say that Hyesan is the best smuggling route in the whole country, so that’s why there are so many smugglers bringing goods through from China," the source said.
"Border guards in Hyesan are tight with state-run agencies and they aid smugglers," said the source.
The source revealed that in many cases the authorities are themselves smugglers.
"The state-run trade agencies are all involved with smuggling themselves, and it’s really just another way of conducting trade for the nation in a way that allows them to avoid U.N. sanctions," the source added.