Korea (North)
| Author | George Kurian |
| Pages | 555-556 |
Page 555
Official country name: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
Capital: Pyongyang
Geographic description: The northern part of the Korea Peninsula north of the 38 parallel
Population: 22,912,177 (est. 2005)
The Ministry of Public Security (called the Ministry of the Interior until 1962) is a powerful ministry that oversees a constellation of functions relating to law enforcement, civil order, and national security. Both conventional and secret police are subordinate to this ministry as are traffic control, fire prevention, and the penal system.
Under the Minister of Public Security are four vice ministers, each in charge of several bureaus. Party control over the ministry is extremely tight. The formulation of overall policy and the coordination of party and government functions relating to security are vested in the Justice and Security Commission. Party control is also exercised directly through party cells within the various organs of the ministry itself.
Below the ministry are public security bureaus in each province, public security sections in each city or county, and a number of substations in cities and regions bordering the Demilitarized Zone. A resident policeman or constable is assigned to each village. The public security agencies at the county level are headed by a lieutenant colonel of police, and at the city and province level by a senior colonel roughly comparable to a chief of police. The usual strength of a county public security station is about 100 men.
One group of bureaus in the Ministry of Public Security includes most of the conventional functions relating to law enforcement. One of these, the Protection and Security Bureau, is the approximate equivalent of a national police force. It operates through its subunits in the county and urban public security sections and perhaps to a lesser extent through rural constables. Its agents investigate crimes, control traffic, register births, deaths, and marriages, authorize passports, and check entry of foreign vessels in North Korean ports. Fire prevention is also a responsibility of this bureau.
All personnel of the Ministry of Public Security are ranked in military fashion. No firm data are available on the strength of the police unit. All cadres above the rank of colonel are trained at the...
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