North Korea is allegedly using surveillance cameras in schools and workplaces and collecting fingerprints, photographs, and other biometric information from its citizens to gain a "deeper insight into people's lives," a report said Tuesday.
Citing estimates, a study by the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank suggested that as many as one North Korean in 20 is in the country's existing surveillance system.
"North Koreans are already among the most tightly controlled and surveilled people in the world," the report said, contending that people are "constantly at risk of random or targeted inspections that can involve a complete search of their home or their person."
While the country's existing surveillance network relies in large part on a "massive network of human intelligence gathering," its growing use of digital tools, with imported Chinese equipment and homegrown software, is jeopardizing the little opportunity for North Koreans to "engage in illicit business activities, consume foreign media and privately criticize the government."
A combination of the "heavy state control exerted by North Korea and pervasive digital surveillance, such as that carried out in China, could extinguish all but the tiniest freedoms for the North Korean people," it said.
Researchers involved in the study interviewed 40 North Korean "escapees" about surveillance they faced in the country. They also surveyed 100 current North Korean residents in 2023 via phone, text message, and other forms of encrypted communication to ensure their safety.
The study's findings came amid other reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is stepping up efforts to tighten the state's control of its citizens and promote loyalty to his regime.
These efforts were reportedly boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Pyongyang imposed stringent border controls for three years before a reopening in 2023.
North Korea, the Stimson Center study claimed, is building surveillance capabilities that reach across various facets of public and private life. While the state may not yet have the capacity to fully utilize all the data it can collect, it is moving towards even greater surveillance of its citizens, enhanced by digital technology.
Facial recognition is in "active use" in North Korea, the report said, pointing to efforts by state agencies to gather a "biometric database of citizens that includes photographs and fingerprints."
