Some North Korean diplomats and other officials with posts abroad have been
sending their sons and daughters to mental
health hospitals within North Korea in a bid to avoid punishment if their
children happen to slip and reveal details on life abroad, Daily NK has learned.
“[These officials] are afraid that their
children might speak in public about what they have seen in the outside
world, so they send them to mental hospitals to prevent possible issues,” a source from
Pyongyang, currently based in Dandong, China, informed Daily NK through a phone
conversation on Monday.
Another source close with personal
experience in this matter corroborated this news but for his protection, Daily NK cannot reveal his
position and region.
Diplomat families enjoy a host of benefits
and a steady supply of state provisions, frequently making their children more
inclined to buy into state propaganda that Pyongyang is “paradise on Earth,”
according to the source.
However, he added, “Those who have lived
abroad realize that such propaganda is a lie, and return home disgusted with their country.”
Access to the internet, increased viewing of foreign media, and other aspects of life abroad greatly influence these
children’s perceptions and open them up to the oppressive realities of life in
North Korea.
“As the date of returning home approaches,
they complain to their parents about how they don’t want to go back to Pyongyang but
remain abroad instead; these notions absolutely terrify their parents,” the source
explained.
Parents respond by vehemently warning their children,
imploring them to watch their words in public, he said, noting that even slipping to friends that “foreign countries are so much better” than North Korea is
liable to tip off the State Security Department (SSD).
“Parents who find themselves summoned
to the SSD for this and similar blunders by their children are subjected to rigorous
interrogation over the course of a quite a few months, eventually being shipped
off to re-education camps or– if granted leniency—dismissed from their posts and
ejected from the Party.”
Personally witnessing or catching wind of these incidents triggered others in the same arena to send their children to psychiatric facilities and, in most cases, bribe the on-site psychiatrists to ensure their children receive
excellent treatment and care.
In the confines of these mental facilities, he explained, any unsavory remarks about North Korea and glorification of
foreign lands fail to arouse the same suspicions they would otherwise, curtailing anxiety about potential repercussions. Tighter surveillance over more stringent
punishments triggered many trading officials to avoid becoming an “example”
after being punished due to their children’s inadvertent comments.
According to the source, applying for a
visa to travel abroad is a convoluted, difficult process that, even when
successful, does not allow the visa holder’s family to join him or her abroad.
For diplomats or certain Party officials, however,
bribes to the proper channels within the executive branch of the Party can produce
a visa permitting family members to take the trip, with each additional member jacking up the price considerably.
While these visas are issued
by the foreign affairs department of municipal People’s Committees, they must
be validated by the Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
