From East Asia Intel, subscription
 SEOUL — Four simultaneous firefights broke out between North Korean border guards and unidentified groups of young men in isolated locations along the Tumen River on the China-North Korea border in late January. The incidents suggest the existence of armed North Korean dissident groups in China.
The first incident occurred in Namyang, across from the Chinese town of Tumen, where a North Korean border guard discovered several men crossing the river from the Chinese side, according to a newspaper report here. The guard tried to arrest the men. Fighting followed and the border guard was stabbed more than 30 times and bled to death.
Ruined his day...
Choo Sung-Ha, a Kim Il-Sung University graduate and a defector-turned-reporter at Donga Daily, confirmed the Jan. 28 incidents from a number of sources inside North Korea. Choo said that North Korean border guards are never supposed to be on sentry alone, but that the soldierÂ’s partner was away at a nearby village to have a drink. Alarmed by the commotion, soldiers from other nearby guard posts ran to check and the intruders escaped leaving their bags behind. Three homemade rifles, some ammunition, a camcorder and a Chinese mobile phone were found in the bags.
| So they wren't just wandering across the river, they were infiltrating. |
At around the same time in the town of Hoeryong, about 40 kilometers to the south, a group of unidentified men crossed the river and fired rifles at a guardhouse and ran away. No casualties were reported, according to the paper. Two similar incidents occurred in the city of Musan and at another nearby town, according to the newspaper.
| Sounds like it's just starting up — a pretty ginger attempt at guerrilla warfare... |
In the past, armed conflicts along the river were caused mostly by hungry North Korean border guards seeking food in Chinese villages or to rob a shop. As recently as Jan. 17, eight armed North Korean soldiers attacked a coalmine in Tumen in a robbery attempt. One North Korean soldier was killed, three were captured and four others escaped.
| Who the hell robs a coalmine, fergawdsake? |
The Jan. 28 incidents were the first in which heavily armed North Korean border guards were attacked by armed intruders from the Chinese side of the border. However, East-Asia-Intel sources in the border area were unable to confirm the reports. “People may have thought the sound of fireworks by Chinese people celebrating the eve of the New Year was a gunfight,” said a Chinese-Korean man in Tumen. Some defectors in Seoul, however, said it was high time for armed resistance groups to emerge in the border area. Lim Chon-Yong, who organized the North Korean Soldiers for Freedom in Seoul last December, said there were several groups of North Korean dissidents in China serious about fighting for freedom for the North.
Tall order, but hope for the best.
“I can’t name them, but there are four or five groups in China who were beginning to arm themselves and planning to stage guerrilla warfare against the Pyongyang regime,” said Lim. He said that with his organization’s help some weapons had been smuggled into North Korea to underground elements. “Many people are fed up with the Kim Jong-Il regime. There are plenty of people in North Korea who say if they have weapons they would fight,” he said. |