The North Korean authorities have been refraining from the conduct of public trials and executions, which were previously carried out to maintain control over the residents, following a mandate issued last December.
“Until last year, individuals accused of sowing discontent or creating social disorder by offenses including cutting into electric lines [to steal power] , watching South Korean media, or attempting to defect, underwent public trials and execution by firing squad. But this year, the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of People’s Security have been laying low,” a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on May 2.
“For example, a man in his 40s who helped dozens of defectors in Hoeryong was arrested in early March but not put to a public trial. The arrest went quietly, unlike a similar case that preceded it, when the state broadcast the news and conducted a series of executions to send a strong message.”
Kim Jong Un has ruthlessly executed a number of high-ranking executives, including his uncle Jang Song Thaek, in order to consolidate his grip on power. Open trials are conducted on residents to instill fear among the population.
The Institute for National Security Strategy (under the National Intelligence Service) stated in its assessment last December of Kim Jong Un’s five years in power that Kim Jong Un continues to commit crimes against humanity through cycles of purges and executions of high-ranking officials.
However, as public sentiment towards the regime has worsened, law enforcement agencies are said to be becoming marginally softer in their approach. In fact, Kim Jong Un ordered a probe into human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ministry of State Security and banned public trials and executions in December 2016.
“The authorities acknowledge that the residents are going through difficulties, and thus are refraining from open trials and executions. They seem to be aware of the danger of worsening public sentiment,” the source noted.
“There are many residents who are disillusioned with the regime even though they don’t openly say it, so it’s hard to predict how people who are already upset by the lack of food would react if handled brutally,” a source in Ryanggang Province said.
She added that the current measures also seem to reflect Kim Jong Un’s increasing political confidence, as he has been ruling the country for six years now.
“The regime has been using the strategy of terrorizing cadres and residents, but now it seems to be thinking that it can relax in its approach. This move is expected to continue until a major political event occurs,” she concluded.
