^ "Reports: Wiretap led to Ri's ouster in N.^ "North Korea steps up surveillance of citizens with 16,000 CCTV cameras".^ "Systematic Tyranny: How the Kim Dynasty Holds the North Korean People In Bondage".^ "Strict Surveillance for Kaesong Workers"."Time to Act on Companies Selling Mass Spy Gear to Authoritarian Regimes | Electronic Frontier Foundation". "Governments turn to hacking techniques for surveillance of citizens | Technology". ^ Juan Reinaldo Sanchez, The Double Life of Fidel Castro: My 17 Years as Personal Bodyguard to El Lider Maximo, Penguin Press (2014) p."INSIDE PYONGYANG (1): Kim Jong Un's dictatorship intensifies in North Korea - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun". "Massive police state controls North Korea: study". ^ Human Rights Watch (10 January 2013).^ a b "Comparative Criminology | Asia - North Korea".Ri Yong-ho, who held the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, was 'purged' after he was reportedly recorded on wiretap complaining about Kim Jong-un. Over a span of four years, the government purchased about 100,000 closed-circuit television cameras. Since all North Koreans are generally expected to be employed at a state place of work, surveillance also takes place at work. The MSC became more prominent in the mid-90s, when there began a rapid increase in defections. The Military Security Command of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the country's armed forces, is tasked with monitoring "the activities and political loyalties of military commanders and other KPA officers" and "identifying anyone seen as disloyal". The current total number of informers for the police is estimated at 200,000 to 300,000, with many more having collaborated in the past. The Ministry of Social Security, the nation's police agency, is estimated to control nearly 140,000 - 210,000 public security personnel. The Organization and Guidance Department of the Workers' Party of Korea is responsible for investigating and spying on senior officials. The MPS monitors correspondence and telephone conversations. That informant network is run by the State Security Department (SSD), which controls at least 50,000 personnel, and the SSD maintains a network of prisons for individual suspected of "holding unacceptable views". The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea reports that North Korea operates a "massive, multilevel system of informants", rewarding informers with gifts. The three major surveillance organizations in North Korea are the State Security Department, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and the Military Security Command (MSC). In order to "tighten surveillance over the populations in the border regions", surveillance teams were switched from five people to three. Western companies have been criticized for selling surveillance technology to repressive regimes, including North Korea. North Korean officials stationed abroad generally have their internet access monitored by staff. Some computers may access the national intranet, called Kwangmyong, but true Internet access is restricted to the "super-elites". Īll computers are subject to random checks by authorities and must be registered with the government. Upon returning to their rooms later in the evening, all the members of the Cuban Delegation found spread out on their beds the complete collection of Kim Il-Sung's works in Spanish. Curious about the veracity of this, while in a hotel elevator with another bodyguard, Sanchez disingenuously said out loud "You know what? I would love to read the works of Kim Il-Sung in Spanish. Unlike Cuba, which were usually limited to certain rooms for the purposes of investigations, the North Koreans reportedly bugged everywhere: hallways, elevators, rooms, bathrooms, etc. Juan Reynaldo Sanchez, a defected Bodyguard for Fidel Castro who visited North Korea in 1986, wrote later how Fidel's Bodyguard Units were briefed by Cuban Intelligence who had worked in North Korea not to say anything sensitive since "The North Korean's put mics everywhere, listen to everything, and film everything". There is a general sense that it is dangerous to engage in any serious conversation about sensitive topics when three or more people gather at one place, regardless of how friendly they may be. Microphones are now even being used outdoors to pick up conversations. This oversight of citizens has extended beyond wired microphones and wiretapping of fixed-line and mobile phones. Seemingly, every aspect of a person's existence in North Korea is monitored.