North Korean authorities have threatened to punish citizens who spread “rumors” about the country’s soldiers dying in Russia’s war with Ukraine -- and ordered people to snitch on each other about this, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
State media has not reported that North Korean troops are fighting in Russia, but news of the deployment has spread by word of mouth -- including that some have died and their bodies have not been returned.
The U.S. Pentagon and South Korean intelligence estimate that around 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, and thousands have died in battle. Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has acknowledged this, and Pyongyang wants to keep its citizens tight-lipped about the subject.
In North Korea, such warnings or policy announcements are often made at company-wide or neighborhood watch unit gatherings.
Attendees at a recent meeting of the workforce at the Tokchon Motor Complex in South Pyongan province, north of Pyongyang, were told to report on anyone “spreading rumors” about soldiers in Russia, a resident there told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“As the news spread that soldiers of the 11th Corps continue to die in the war in Russia, it appears that they were trying to stop rumors from spreading,” he said.
It wasn’t clear what punishment leakers might face, but under North Korean’s criminal code this kind of offense would probably mean up to 10 years in a labor camp, but if its considered anti-state propaganda, the penalty would be death.
Ceremonies for fallen soldiers
However, the government hasn’t been keeping it a complete secret. Families of soldiers killed in action are invited to ceremonies to commemorate their sacrifice, sources have told RFA Korean.
RFA reported last month that the fallen soldiers are sometimes given membership in the ruling Korean Workers' Party posthumously, allowing their families to reap benefits like access to better housing, jobs, education, and food rations.
But the families were never told how or where their sons died, or what the nature of their missions were.
They are only told their sons “died honorably for the party and the great leader,” the resident said.
But people talk after ceremonies like these.
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The facilitator of the meeting at the factory warned the workers that they would be punished not only for spreading “false information” about dying soldiers, but failing to report if others do it, the resident said.
Still, authorities seem to be tacitly acknowledging the deployment.
At a meeting of the neighborhood watch unit in the western coastal city of Sinpo, authorities addressed the anger of bereaved families who learned their sons died serving the nation -- without knowing exactly where -- but they did not receive their bodies and could not perform funeral rites, a resident there explained.
“The residents’ anger does not come from baseless rumors,” she said, adding that many families received certificates of death for their sons, but had no idea where they had been buried.
The government does not want the people to talk about this because they are concerned about citizens' morale.
“The news that soldiers were dispatched to Russia spread widely and most people know about it,” she said. “News is also spreading that Russia is giving foreign currency equal to the number of soldiers dispatched to Russia, so public opinion is bound to boil over.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.