In protest against the government’s
inaction on a personal grievance case, a North Korean resident has reportedly
committed suicide in front of the Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Central Committee
building by ‘seppuku’ [method of suicide used by Japanese samurai involving
disembowelment; also known as harakari], Daily NK has learned.
“Last week I went to Pyongyang and heard
about this suicide,” a Daily NK source from South Pyongan Province reported on November 24. “The person had filed a grievance case, claiming to have been wrongfully
accused of something, but after that didn’t go well, the resident committed
‘seppuku’ in front of the central Party’s office building in protest.”
Daily NK confirmed this news with an
independent source from the capital.
“The individual had filed this case in an effort to clarify what had happened and had even gone to the grievance office
to try to get a consultation but instead was told to keep quiet. That’s why it
led to this extreme decision,” she explained.
“We do not know the details
of this grievance letter, but it is said to involve reports about losing
everything the person owned because of a Ministry of People’s Security [ MPS, or North Korea’s equivalent of a police force] cadre.”
Some people are sympathizing, saying how
upset the person must have been to choose such an extreme method. However, the
district office involved in the case has ordered people through their inminban
[people’s unit] to keep mum about it unless they know “exactly why it
happened,” according to the source.
People who know the individual have
criticized MPS personnel, noting that this (injustice) could
happen to anyone, she said, adding most people even in Pyongsong are
already aware of this incident and that it would hard to control this rumor
from spreading.
“Some have said the person should have
taken revenge by getting through this and becoming successful rather than
choosing death,” she asserted. “Others are saddened by the reality saying that
suicide is futile since no one will so much as blink over the death of people
with no power.”
Public grievance cases are typically
registered through a box at each provincial Party committee building, and then
they are sent to the central Party to be processed. The person behind the
complaint may request a consultation session at the central office, but it is
rare that such demands are met, Kim Heung Kwang, the head of North Korea
Intellectuals Solidarity, a group based in Seoul, explained.
*The content of this article was broadcast to the North Korean people via Unification Media Group.
