N. Korea’s Front Line of National Defense is along the Border with China, not S. Korea

Japan’s Sankei Shimbun, citing a knowledgeable source of North Korea, reported on Friday that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il commanded an increase of guards along the China borderline, assigning this area as the “number one front line of national defense.”

The Sankei Shimbun reported that this can be viewed as reflecting leader Kim’s perception that the collapse of North Korea’s regime will begin along the border with China instead of the armistice line with South Korea.

According to the source, Kim ordered an increase of guards along the border with China in July 2004, and there have been intelligence agents disguised as civilians assigned, national assistance department and public security stations (police stations) set up, and a threefold strengthening of the military defense arranged along the Duman River and Aprok River area.

The Sankei Shimbun analyzed the reason for arranging intelligence agents along the national frontier and moving the military to guard the rear frontier is to serve as a preventive measure of group escape by the soldiers.

The source reported, “Even though the number of guards has been strengthened, the number of North Korean escapees is not decreasing because if you have money, you can even bribe the soldiers or the policemen.”

The Sankei Shimbun further reported that North Korean authorities are concerned about external news infiltrating into North Korea as the number of cases of escapees who have earned money in China and trying to smuggle back into North Korea is again increasing.

Tokyo Special Correspondent Park Won-jae

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com