North Korea arrests factory workers for diverting goods to markets

According to a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province, the public struggle session and arrest ceremony took place March 19 in Kyongsong county. The three factory employees faced charges of misappropriating state property produced under the “Local Development 20×10 Policy.” Kim Jong Un launched the policy to build modern local industry factories in 20 counties per year for 10 years, with the stated goal of improving living standards across the country’s provinces.

Specifically, the three individuals — a work team leader, an accountant and a warehouse manager — systematically diverted goods including shampoo and toothpaste from the factory and sold them through the jangmadang.

“From the early days of the factory’s operation, they manipulated account books and warehouse inventories,” the source said. “In addition, they siphoned off surplus goods produced during the manufacturing process. Ultimately, the scheme came to light after employees filed reports, exposing how the three had colluded with major jangmadang traders to pocket enormous illicit profits.”

Public denunciation before arrest

At the public struggle session, officials read aloud each item the three had stolen, one by one. As a result, gasps and groans rippled through the crowd of workers and onlookers with each new disclosure.

Authorities then formally charged the three with a range of serious offenses: misappropriation and waste of state property, obstruction of the local development policy, disloyalty and anti-state conduct. Following the charges, security agents bound them and led them away in full view of workers and local people.

Security agents used harsh language as they removed the accused, shouting that “rats who drain state property have no place in this land.” Meanwhile, the three, heads hung, broke down in tears as officers loaded them into a provincial security bureau transport vehicle. The provincial security bureau oversees law enforcement at the provincial level in North Korea.

During subsequent questioning, the three claimed financial hardship and asked for leniency. Nevertheless, the provincial security bureau rejected the plea outright. Officials declared that “acts shaking the foundation of the local development policy are an unforgivable crime.”

A warning to factories nationwide

The source said central authorities ordered the session and planned it well in advance. Moreover, the source said it “went beyond simply punishing individual wrongdoing” and “carried the character of a strong warning to local factory workers across the country.”

In the wake of the case, other local factories across the province launched sweeping internal audits. As a result, materials management tightened sharply. Furthermore, North Koreans are now saying it will be difficult to find domestically produced goods in the jangmadang for the time being, the source added.