{"id":64049,"date":"2026-06-25T02:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/64049\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T02:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T02:12:10","slug":"north-korea-phone-tapping-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/64049\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea phone tapping crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"North<\/a>A North Korean surveillance post photographed near the border with China. A poster describes methods of making reports, including a phone number for a neighborhood police station. (Courtesy of Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-a University)<\/p>\n

North Korean authorities in North Pyongan province<\/a> have sharply intensified phone surveillance in 2026, intercepting both landline and mobile calls to crack down on traders conducting business across provincial boundaries, a Daily NK source in the region reported on Wednesday. The crackdown has prompted a growing number of people to avoid phone calls altogether, communicate only in person, or use coded language when calls are unavoidable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Intelligence Agency<\/a>\u2018s wiretapping <\/a>has gotten so bad in cities and counties across North Pyongan province that people are trying not to make calls at all,\u201d the source said. \u201cFor sensitive matters, they meet in person, and if they absolutely have to call, they speak in code.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the country\u2019s primary domestic counterintelligence service responsible for monitoring citizens for political and economic crimes, has long conducted communications surveillance. But sources say the intensity of monitoring has recently reached levels that are being felt acutely in everyday life.<\/p>\n

The immediate trigger appears to be a case from around June 10. A gold trader<\/a> in Kusong city, who had been under NIA watch but had continued operating under the assumption that he had enough protection, received a call from a contact in Ryanggang province. Shortly after, NIA agents raided his home without warning and seized both foreign and domestic currency. The trader was taken in for questioning, and rumors circulating in the area suggest the cash confiscated amounted to tens of thousands of U.S. dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I understand, the call was intercepted while he was receiving the contact information and address of a money transfer broker<\/a>,\u201d the source said. \u201cThe NIA tracked that phone number, investigated the broker first, and then raided the trader\u2019s home.\u201d A single phone call had unraveled the entire network: both the broker and the trader were detained in sequence.<\/p>\n

Coded language and borrowed SIM cards<\/p>\n

The case spread quickly through North Pyongan province and has accelerated an already-growing wariness about communication. \u201cThere probably isn\u2019t a single person who doesn\u2019t know that both landlines and mobile phones are being tapped,\u201d the source said. \u201cMore and more people are limiting calls to simple greetings and handling anything sensitive in person or in code.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ordinary North Korean people are openly voicing their anxiety. \u201cThe NIA is basically CCTV,\u201d some have said. \u201cIf you move, they follow. If you talk, they listen and show up at your door.\u201d Others have gone further: \u201cThe best thing is to not call at all,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m thinking of just selling my phone,\u201d or \u201cI paid good money for this thing and now it\u2019s getting me surveilled \u2014 I feel anxious every time I make a call, even if I haven\u2019t done anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

For traders whose livelihoods depend on phone-based coordination of goods, transport, and payments, quitting calls entirely is not realistic. \u201cPhone calls are essential to running any kind of business,\u201d the source said. \u201cBut people are starting to say that a phone is now a time bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concern is heightened by mobile phones specifically, which can be tracked by location in addition to being wiretapped. In response, some North Korean people have begun trying to obtain SIM cards registered in other people\u2019s names<\/a> in order to make calls without being identified. But the source cautioned that this is not a reliable workaround. Even with a different SIM card, if the content of a call or the identity of the person being called is traced, the authorities can still make an arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NIA is now basically telling people openly: \u2018We\u2019re watching and listening to everything, so be careful,’\u201d the source said. \u201cPeople are trying to find ways around the surveillance, but for now there\u2019s no real solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n

Reporting from inside North Korea<\/p>\n

\n Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.\n <\/p>\n

\n Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea \u2014 discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.\n <\/p>\n

\n Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what\u2019s happening inside one of the world\u2019s most closed societies.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Korean surveillance post photographed near the border with China. A poster describes methods of making reports,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[449,7030,7041,31,2664,34,9392,7040,3759],"class_list":["post-64049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-north-korea","tag-crackdowns","tag-crime","tag-intelligence","tag-korea","tag-mobile-phones","tag-north-korea","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-smuggling","tag-surveillance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}