North Korea halts remittance brokers for upcoming election
North Korean remittance brokers halted operations in border cities before the March 15 Supreme People’s Assembly election, opting to engage in public political activities to avoid scrutiny.
A source in North Hamgyong province told Daily NK recently that a special security alert was issued throughout the border region from March 10 to 16, covering the period immediately before and after the vote, News.Az reports, cting foreign media.
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“Brokers nowadays will drop their activities at the slightest sign of a crackdown. That’s what happened once again: when a strange wind started to blow, they closed up shop,” the source said.
When remittance brokers are detained during a politically sensitive period, their cases can be handled not as simple economic crimes but as the political crime of espionage — so brokers preemptively suspended operations.
Instead, brokers made a point of visibly joining activities in their respective organizations to establish themselves as citizens in good standing. In the city of Hoeryong, brokers made sure not to miss any events organized by their neighborhood watch units.
“The election period is a time of tight restrictions — you can’t even visit the next village,” the source said. “Brokers believe that briefly halting their work and wholeheartedly participating in political events will serve them in good stead in the future.”
By Ulviyya Salmanli
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