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North Korea is forcibly mobilizing married women living near the border with China to toil away making cement blocks for the construction of a wall, sources in the country told RFA.The wall will keep citizens of the northeastern province of Ryanggang from easily accessing the border, especially near the province’s largest city Hyesan, where the government uncovered a rash of smuggling incidents over the past year, following the January 2020 agreement by Beijing and Pyongyang to shut down the frontier and suspend all trade to stop the spread of the coronavirus.Though exploiting the public for free labor is common practice in cash-strapped North Korea, sources told RFA that the people are angry that the government started mobilizing women for the project when it fell behind schedule....But Pyongyang has been serious about preventing border-crossing during the pandemic. The border closure has, however, devastated the North Korean economy and caused food prices to skyrocket, thereby increasing the incentive for smugglers to bring in food and products from China to make a living.To stop illegal border crossings, North Korea has held public executions, deployed special forces to the border area, laid landmines to keep its own people from escaping, and ordered soldiers and police to shoot on sight anyone found within a kilometer (0.6 miles) of the border.
