Article Says North Korean Diplomats Increasingly Putting Kids Into Mental Institutions
I put this story in the category of unverifiable rumor, so who knows how true it is:
North Korean diplomats, fearful of reprisals from the state for their children’s positive remarks on life outside the country, are sending their sons and daughters to mental hospitals to protect them from state surveillance.
A source in Dandong, China who is familiar with the situation in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Wednesday that parents use bribes to cajole psychiatrists for admission into hospitals under false pretenses.
Cases of North Korean foreign service officers using mental health clinics as a refuge for their children are on the rise, according to the source.
“[Diplomats] with children who know the truth about the outside world are afraid of punishment and are sending them to mental hospitals [as a preventive measure],” the source said.
North Koreans in the foreign service are typically elites who are well cared for by the state, and take residence in Pyongyang, where the standard of living is significantly higher than in many parts of the state. [UPI]
You can read the rest at the link.
The youth having experienced life outside of North Korea will never conform to the totalitarian regime. This is where the next generation of political unrest will come from.
It would be nice if the story was true. Where I take issue with it is the idea that putting one’s children in a mental institution would somehow shield them from state surveillance. The mental institutions would be controlled by the state as well.