As part of tireless efforts by the North Korean authorities

to keep domestic information tightly locked within the nation’s borders–as

well as preventing any “anti-socialist” information from trickling in–the

state has stepped up regulations on mobile phone practices of Chinese traders

operating within the country.

“The North Korean authorities have recently taken measures

to prevent traders from freely using mobile phones,” an informed source in

China reported to Daily NK on the 3rd. “It’s not that mobile phones are

forbidden altogether, but just that they can only be used in specifically

designated areas.”

She added that from the moment these traders enter North

Korea, State Security Department [SSD] officials zero in on and prohibit them

from using mobile phones—even within the confines of the customs

office. “These SSD agents waste no time in making their threats clear,

saying that they can mete out punishments as soon as anyone is caught using a

mobile phone in an undesignated location,” she asserted.

These designated areas are, unsurprisingly, extremely

limited, all part of efforts to hamper the flow of information the authorities

fear is leaking out of the country through these calls.

Then, based on these heightened restrictions, it was

surprising to learn that traders were permitted to make phone calls from within

their hotel rooms. However, upon elaboration from the source, the move proved

predictable: the authorities can tap phone calls made from isolated zones with

relative ease; trying to pinpoint calls spanning a large range of public

spaces, on the other hand, proves far more difficult, if not impossible.

On-site visits to enterprises are another acceptable

location for mobile calls under the new regulations–flanked by

SSD agents, of course– but strictly forbidden during any migration to and from

the next destination.

The threats laid out by SSD agents to these traders are far

from empty, the source went on to note, citing a recent case in which a Joseonjok [ethnic

Korean Chinese] trader was slapped with a 3,000 RMB fine for using his mobile

phone in a forbidden zone after entering North Korea. “He was abruptly

approached by a SSD official, who confiscated his phone, forced him to fill out

a report, and then demanded payment for the fine,” she explained.

Word of this incident spread rapidly among Chinese traders, of

whom many feel the North Korean authorities “should have declared a ban on the

entry of cell phones in North Korea in the first place if it’s basically going

to be forbidden anyway,” according to the source. Others, she said, “point out

that it’s better to just put up with it–you know how sensitive the North is

about information getting outside.”