A manager of a foreigners’ water park in Pyongyang was recently arrested by North Korea’s Ministry of State Security.
According to a source in North Korea, state security agents detained a man in his thirties during a weekly study session on Dec. 4. The manager worked at a water park in embassy row, located in the Munhung neighborhood of Pyongyang’s Taedonggang district.
The agents burst into the study session and dragged the manager away, accusing him of anti-state activities – specifically, leaking national security secrets during interactions with foreigners. However, they neither specified what secrets were allegedly revealed nor identified the foreigners involved.
The agents searched his workplace and seized his mobile phone and personal belongings. The manager worked for the Bureau for Affairs with Diplomatic Corps, a foreign ministry department that operates various facilities for foreign embassy staff in Pyongyang, including saunas, water parks, restaurants, and grocery stores.
Due to their regular contact with foreign ambassadors, their families, and embassy workers, bureau employees are kept under close surveillance by state security. Staff are acutely aware of this monitoring and typically avoid direct interaction with foreigners or keep any necessary communication minimal.
The manager’s sudden arrest has left his colleagues bewildered and questioning what conversations he could have had with foreigners to warrant such action. A tense atmosphere has descended over the bureau’s headquarters.
“Whether you work at the florist or the water park, bureau staff have to constantly watch their backs. Everyone’s terrified of encountering foreigners,” the source said.
“It doesn’t make sense – as a water park manager, he wouldn’t have had access to state secrets, and probably had limited contact with foreigners. Even if he did speak with them, it would have been about mundane matters. Nobody can figure out why he was really arrested.”
The incident has led bureau staff to avoid all contact with foreigners, fearing similar consequences.
“It’s ridiculous that staff at an organization meant to serve foreigners are now avoiding them,” the source said. “But everyone’s scared they might be arrested on some trivial pretext if they don’t keep their distance.”
