Latest news with #MinistryofStateSecurity
Daily Mirror
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Four young adults face Kim Jong-un's labour camps for 'talking like South Koreans'
Kim Jong-un has clamped down on the behaviour of young citizens as South Korean slang is becoming more popular in the hermit nation - he could send four people to labour camps in response North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could send four young adults to labour camps for "talking like South Koreans" in a harsh crackdown. The bizarre rule saw the group of youths arrested in the city of Chongjin after they were overheard reenacting South Korean movies. The group, all aged in their twenties, had been caught mimicking lines from the films. Local residents are said to have alerted the authorities about the offensive speech, which is deemed inappropriate because of its origins. Chongjin's Ministry of State Security have been questioning the group, who await to find out whether their conversation could lead to spending time in harsh labour camps. According to reports, the offence could see them get sentenced for one year. It comes as the country has increasingly clamped down on what Kim Jong-un views as South Korean influences. The leader earlier branded K-pop as a "vicious cancer". In 2020, a law was imposed to stop people from distributing programmes and stressed that people would receive the death penalty. Anyone caught watching South Korean programmes were warned they could face up to 15 years in prison. One year after the militant announcement, another law was passed to stop young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The rule was placed under Article 41 in the North Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act. Despite the bans, the apparent slang is said to be spreading quickly among young people. One source told publication Daily NK:"These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they're with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows. They copy the patterns quite naturally, probably because they've grown up watching this content.'
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
North Korean youths face forced labor for 'South Korean' dialect
Four North Korean youths could face a year in brutal forced labour camps after reportedly being arrested for 'talking like South Koreans'. The group, all in their twenties, were arrested in Chongjin, the country's third largest city, after being reported for mimicking lines from South Korean films. State security authorities were tipped off by a local residents who had overheard the four. The young adults are currently being questioned by Chongjin's Ministry of State Security and could be sentenced to a year in Kim Jong-un 's cruel labour camps, according to Daily NK. North Korea has increasingly cracked down on what it claims are South Korean influences in recent years. Kim Jong-un has previously described K-pop as a 'vicious cancer ' while they have targeted other slang words. A 2020 law made the distribution of South Korean programmes punishable by death, while those watching it could face 15 years in a prison camp. A year later the brutal regime passed a law, Article 41 of North Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act, which banned young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The use of 'non-socialist' language is also prohibited but South Korean slang is thought to be quietly spreading among young people. 'These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they're with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows,' a source told Daily NK. People's phones and messages are being searched for South Korean slang, according to a report from South Korea's Unification Ministry based on the testimony of hundreds of defectors. Searches of homes have also increased since 2021, with authorities looking for signs of outside culture. Meanwhile, last year, footage emerged of two teenage boys being sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas. The rare footage showed two 16-year-old boys being handcuffed by uniformed officers in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium at an unknown location. The youngsters were arrested for not 'deeply reflecting on their mistakes' after they were caught watching South Korean television, which is banned in the North along with K-pop music. Minors who broke the law would be sent to youth labour camps in the past, and generally the punishment would be for less than five years. Footage from inside the hermit nation is rare as Kim Jong Un forbids the release of any video and photos of life in the country from being shown to the outside world.
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
North Korean youths face a year of forced labour in Kim Jong-un's gulag after being caught 'talking like a South Korean'
Four North Korean youths could face a year in brutal forced labour camps after reportedly being arrested for 'talking like South Koreans'. The group, all in their twenties, were arrested in Chongjin, the country's third largest city, after being reported for mimicking lines from South Korean films. State security authorities were tipped off by a local residents who had overheard the four. The young adults are currently being questioned by Chongjin's Ministry of State Security and could be sentenced to a year in Kim Jong-un 's cruel labour camps, according to Daily NK. North Korea has increasingly cracked down on what it claims are South Korean influences in recent years. Kim Jong-un has previously described K-pop as a 'vicious cancer ' while they have targeted other slang words. A 2020 law made the distribution of South Korean programmes punishable by death, while those watching it could face 15 years in a prison camp. A year later the brutal regime passed a law, Article 41 of North Korea's Youth Education Guarantee Act, which banned young people from speaking or writing 'in odd speech patterns that are not our own.' The use of 'non-socialist' language is also prohibited but South Korean slang is thought to be quietly spreading among young people. 'These days, young people are careful to avoid South Korean speech during official activities because they know about the crackdowns, but when they're with friends, they use it without hesitation—mimicking lines from South Korean movies and shows,' a source told Daily NK. People's phones and messages are being searched for South Korean slang, according to a report from South Korea's Unification Ministry based on the testimony of hundreds of defectors. Searches of homes have also increased since 2021, with authorities looking for signs of outside culture. Meanwhile, last year, footage emerged of two teenage boys being sentenced to 12 years of hard labour for watching K-dramas. The rare footage showed two 16-year-old boys being handcuffed by uniformed officers in front of hundreds of students at an outdoor stadium at an unknown location. The youngsters were arrested for not 'deeply reflecting on their mistakes' after they were caught watching South Korean television, which is banned in the North along with K-pop music. Minors who broke the law would be sent to youth labour camps in the past, and generally the punishment would be for less than five years. Footage from inside the hermit nation is rare as Kim Jong Un forbids the release of any video and photos of life in the country from being shown to the outside world. Foreign media, particularly anything deemed to be 'Western', is strictly prohibited in North Korea - which brainwashes its population to support the ruling regime. But in 2020, North Korea imposed a sweeping 'anti-reactionary thought' law that made enjoying South Korean entertainment punishable by death. In December 2022, it emerged that two teenagers in North Korea had been executed by firing squad for watching and selling films from the South.
New Straits Times
25-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
China warns public servants not to 'show off' online
BEIJING: China's spy agency warned public workers yesterday to curb their "desire to show off" state secrets on social media. Beijing has ramped up espionage warnings in recent years as ties with the United States and other Western nations have cooled. The Ministry of State Security said this month foreign spooks were targeting public officials with tantalising "honey traps" and blackmail to infiltrate the country and steal sensitive information. In another admonition yesterday, the ministry turned its focus to newbie workers who, in its view, might be spending a little too much time online. It cited the example of a young man surnamed Jiang, a "newly employed cadre at a certain agency" who received a confidential document during a regular work meeting. "Out of a desire to show off, he took a photo of the front page and posted it on his WeChat Moments, causing a leak," said the ministry, referring to the social media app's news feed. It added that Jiang faced punishment from the ruling Communist Party and "administrative discipline" for his actions. In a similar case, a greenhorn worker surnamed Tian "casually" shared his progress on a confidential project with a colleague, whose family overheard the conversation and posted about it online. Another "novice" mistake involved a scientific worker surnamed Li, who lazily uploaded sensitive data to an artificial intelligence app to generate a research report, causing a leak. "New employees in confidential units... must strictly distinguish between work and life boundaries, strictly follow confidentiality agreements while socialising and entertaining, and strictly control their 'desire to show off' and 'vanity'," said the ministry. Beijing and Washington have long traded accusations of espionage. In China, spying can be punishable by death. The ministry said in March it had handed such a sentence to a former engineer for leaking state secrets to a foreign power. This month, it had cracked three spying plots, including one in which a public servant was bewitched by the "seductive beauty" of a foreign agent. Enmeshed in a "meticulously designed honey trap", the hapless employee was blackmailed with "intimate photos" and forced to hand over official documents, landing him five years in prison, said the ministry. — AFP
HKFP
24-07-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
China warns public workers against ‘showing off' state secrets online
China's spy agency warned public workers on Thursday to curb their 'desire to show off' state secrets on social media. Beijing has ramped up espionage warnings in recent years as ties with the United States and other Western nations have cooled. Its Ministry of State Security (MSS) said this month that foreign spooks were targeting public officials with tantalising 'honey traps' and blackmail to infiltrate the country and steal sensitive information. In another admonition on Thursday, the ministry turned its focus to newbie workers who, in its view, might be spending a little too much time online. It cited the example of a young man surnamed Jiang, a 'newly employed cadre at a certain agency' who received a confidential document during a regular work meeting. 'Out of a desire to show off, he took a photo of the front page and posted it on his WeChat Moments, causing a leak,' the MSS said, referring to the social media app's news feed. It added that Jiang faced punishment from the ruling Communist Party and 'administrative discipline' for his actions. In a similar case, a greenhorn worker surnamed Tian 'casually' shared his progress on a confidential project with a colleague, whose family overheard the conversation and posted about it online. Another 'novice' mistake involved a scientific worker surnamed Li, who lazily uploaded sensitive data to an artificial intelligence app to generate a research report, causing a leak. 'New employees in confidential units… must strictly distinguish between work and life boundaries, strictly follow confidentiality agreements while socialising and entertaining, and strictly control their 'desire to show off' and 'vanity',' the MSS said. Beijing and Washington have long traded accusations of espionage. In China, spying can be punishable by death. The MSS said in March it had handed such a sentence to a former engineer for leaking state secrets to a foreign power. This month the MSS said it had cracked three spying plots, including one in which a public servant was bewitched by the 'seductive beauty' of a foreign agent. Enmeshed in a 'meticulously designed honey trap', the hapless employee was blackmailed with 'intimate photos' and forced to hand over official documents, landing him five years in prison, the ministry said.
