Police in North Korea’s Ryanggang province have sent a formal complaint to the central government after their coworkers, agents of the ministry of state security, refused to share data on criminal cases, officials in the province told Radio Free Asia.
Stationed in every North Korean police station are local police officers under the social security department and state security agents under the ministry of state security. They often butt heads with each other due to the similarity of their mandates.
The police are charged with keeping public order, including by eradicating crime. Meanwhile, the state security agents are like a secret police force that must protect the country’s leader and the regime, as well as enforcing punishment for general crimes. The agents enjoy special privileges and powers that ordinary officers do not.
After the police in Ryanggang province requested data from the agents regarding data from previous cases involving people currently under police investigation, the province’s social security bureau submitted an official letter to the Central Committee over the impasse, a Ryanggang official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA’s Korean Service.
“[The letter] said the state security department is marking its territory and is not being cooperative,” he said.
Although the conflict between the state security department and social security department is nothing new, it is extremely rare that either group files official complaints about the other.
The police claimed in the letter that state security agents did not transfer data on a group of people it had previously detained. The police caught these people making phone calls outside the country, but were not given access to data for their previous cases that were handled by the agents.
“The police ordered [the agents] to hand over … all materials and subjects of cases,” he said. “But many state security agents think that the police are incompetent and act with jealousy toward them.”
Despite their internal conflict, the agents and the police appear to be outwardly friendly with each other, a resident from the province, who requested to remain anonymous for personal safety, told RFA.
“They are actually enemies to each other,” he said. “A few days ago, I personally saw an argument between a state security agent and a police officer.”
The cause of the spat, which happened inside a police station, was because the state security agent tried to get information from an informant working in a case handled by the police, the resident said.
“That day, several residents who happened to be in the police station witnessed the quarrel,” he said. “They mocked both of them afterward. Residents have very negative feelings of police officers and state security agents who give up nothing when it comes to monitoring and oppressing residents.”
Residents fear that the conflict between the two law enforcement factions could lead to competition between each other in how well they can oppress the people, he said.
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong.