A brutal double homicide of an elderly couple has sparked fear throughout Sunchon, South Pyongan province. Despite discovering the bodies of the victims, both in their early 70s, on Oct. 6, local authorities have failed to identify any suspects after more than a month of investigation.
According to a source in the province recently, the murdered couple had quietly supported themselves on a small farm.
The couple’s neighbors were perplexed to learn of the murder. “The two tilled the land for a living. They weren’t destitute, but they didn’t look to be particularly well off, either,” one remarked.
“Locals say it’s frightening to think of somebody committing murder not to steal something valuable, but just to take some crops. Given how financially strapped people are these days, there are frequent stories about murders,” the source said. “But what’s most disturbing is that many of these crimes are driven by hunger, rather than being part of a scheme to steal money or valuables.”
The Sunchon police department has been working to find a suspect, but officers have been unable to turn up any leads. So far, the only theory is that the murder was not premeditated, but occurred during the course of a burglary.
“The city police are currently broadening their investigation to people formerly convicted of burglary who were likely to reoffend. But citizens are skeptical about the police’s approach and joke that nowadays it would be faster to find people who aren’t burglars,” the source said.
The authorities have been harshly prosecuting serious crimes such as murder, issuing death sentences that are either carried out behind closed doors or in public. But murders continue to occur, and the low arrest rate arouses public anxiety.
“Nowadays when burglars are caught in the act, they threaten violence instead of running off. If you want to stay in one piece, it’s better to pretend you didn’t see the burglar,” one local was quoted as saying.
Some citizens say they wish the police would immediately tackle fear-inducing crimes such as robberies and murders and work hard to solve those cases rather than expending so much effort on political crimes such as anti-socialist and non-socialist behaviors.
“The police pay attention to political and ideological issues and are diligently developing ways to police those crimes, but they aren’t proactive about public safety issues that require an immediate response such as robbery or murder,” the source said. “At best, they’ll go around the neighborhood after the fact to collect witness statements. People are particularly afraid because they don’t know how to respond to these potentially life-threatening crimes.”
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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