North Korean locals are fuming – and reportedly jealous – after a duo managed to escape across the border and defect to neighbouring enemy nation South Korea.
The pair escaped on different days, as the first was a North Korean soldier defending the East Sea coast in Koson on August 20. He is thought to have walked across the Military Demarcation Line into South Korea, and never returned.
The second was 12 days later when another North Korean soldier used the low tides of the Han River to flee to Kim Jong-un's biggest enemies. And now, speaking to NK Daily, a North Korea source said locals are fuming and “jealous” of what happened.
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They said: “With the ban on smuggling, border residents are suffering serious hardships, and indeed, the lives they lived before COVID-19 and those they live now are incomparably different.
“People want to defect more and more, as life becomes harder by the day, while the crackdown and restrictions intensify.
“People who have heard about the successful defections by sea and through the front line are even saying that they should move to Kangwon province or South Hwanghae province. The reality is that people believe the only hope for the future is to leave this place (North Korea).”
It comes just days after it was announced that Dear Leader was thought to be doubling the country's State Security operations overseas to help keep track on anyone who managed to escape his clutches, and his enemies.
According to a source, a new £100m spy centre will be “eight stories high” and take up around 20,000 square metres in floor space. And bizarrely, the country aims to surpass “Israel's Mossad” and “American CIA” in terms of being the best in the world at . . . spying.
Local news sources claimed that the funds to build the site will come from a special budget made up of unused government budgets plus “unofficial funds gathered overseas”.
It is thought that the construction project will be completed before the end of 2026.
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