At the antipodes of happiness. Faced with an unprecedented wave of suicides in his country, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un, found no other response to give to his people than to associate this gesture of despair with an “act of treason against socialism”. According to the media Radio free Asia (RFA)which reports statistics from the South Korean secret service, the number of suicides in North Korea has exploded in one year.
We do not know much about what is happening in the Kim Jong-un dictatorship, and our colleagues, despite their well-placed sources, have not been able to give a figure on the number of suicides that have occurred. in North Korea since the beginning of the year. However, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported in late May that the number of people who took their own lives had “increased by about 40% compared to last year”.
Secret meetings and spooky statistics
An alarming finding that also worries the North Korean government. Kim Jong-un therefore sent local authorities a “secret order” aimed at preventing suicides. In this secret ordinance, the leader describes the suicide as an “act of treason against socialism” and he invites, or rather intimates, local party officials to take preventive measures.
The ordinance in question was transmitted to the local authorities during confidential meetings organized in each province. Meetings during which other information was circulated. For the one that took place in North Hamgyong, statistics showed 35 suicides since January in Chongjin and Kyongsong counties. According to RFA, these suicides mostly involved entire families.
It is clear that the prevention policy is a failure, for lack of an appropriate solution proposed by the authorities. Because, according to a local official, who testified anonymously to our colleagues, the causes are endemic, such as extreme poverty. This same official asserts that suicide in North Korea has a greater social impact than starvation. In response, Kim Jong-un assures that he will hold local authorities responsible if prevention does not bear fruit.