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.