The Ministry of Social Security commonly known as BoAn (Korean: 보안; Hanja: 保安) or the Ministry of People's Security is the interior ministry and principal law enforcement agency within North Korea.[1] The ministry serves as the official public and internal security force, responsibile for maintaining public order and protecting key facilities including railways and other forms of transport. It also maintains a large paramilitary internal force, known as the Social Security Forces.
Unlike most ministries in North Korea, which operate under the Cabinet, the Ministry of Social Security is directly supervised by the State Affairs Commission, though in the past it has been subordinate to other national bodies.[2] The current minister is Ri Yong-gil. According to Fyodor Tertitskiy, columnist at NK News, prospective officers are chosen by recommendation by a local Korean Workers Party (WPK) Committee, although some are chosen because of their songbun status.[3]
History
The ministry was first created as the Political Security Bureau (Korean: 정치보안국) on November 19, 1945.[4] The bureau became a subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in September 1948.[5] The bureau became a separate ministry known as the Ministry of Social Security (Korean: 사회안전성) in May 1951.[4] However, the ministry was later merged back with the Ministry of Internal Affairs in October 1952.[5]
The Ministry of Social Security was re-established in October 1962 after splitting from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[5] It became the Social Security Department (Korean: 사회안전부) in December 1972.[4] The department was a subordinate to the Administration Council. In April 1982, the department was split from the Administration Council [6] but was later returned to its control in December 1986.
The department was renamed back to the Ministry of Social Security in September 1998 and became subordinate to the Cabinet.[4][5] In April 2000, the name of the ministry was changed to Ministry of People's Security (Korean: 인민보안성).[4] In April 2010, the ministry became the People's Security Department (Korean: 인민보안부) and was transferred to the control of the National Defence Commission.[4] In 2016, the department was renamed back to the Ministry of People's Security and became subordinate to the State Affairs Commission.[4] In May 2020, it was changed back to the Ministry of Social Security.[7]
Duties
The main duties of the Ministry of Social Security include policing, protecting key government installations and transport, as well as monitoring the public distribution system and providing bodyguards to important persons.[8] It consists of four child agencies - the Railway Security Bureau, which guards important routes of travel and transport within the DPRK, the Financial Intelligence Agency, which combats money-laundering, extortion and other financial crimes, the Corrections Bureau, which operates the brutal prison system in North Korea, and the Social Security Forces, which effectively serve as a Gendarmerie and riot police force.
Aside from general policing, the Ministry of Social Security also investigates serious crimes such as theft, extortion and blackmail. The Ministry of Social Security gathers information from local informers in social units about irregular acts. If a case is believed to be of a political nature, it is instead handed over to the Ministry of State Security for investigation.[8] The Ministry of Social Security primarily operates via a large network of offices and departments throughout the DPRK, ensuring a significant law enforcement presence in large cities, especially the capital, Pyongyang.
The Korean People's Social Security Forces (Korean: 조선인민내무군) formerly known as People's Guards Forces (Korean: 조선인민경비대)[9] is subordinated to the ministry[10] and is essentially the North Korean counterpart to the Internal Troops of Soviet and post-Soviet states. It is in charge of security for major national facilities such as military demarcation lines, borders, and coastal security, as well as government buildings, Yongbyon nuclear facilities, power plants, and broadcasting facilities. It is the country's national gendarmerie and civil defense organization organized in military lines.
In the 1980s, the work of the People's Guards was transferred to the National Security Agency, and the border guard was believed to have passed to the People's Armed Forces Ministry in October 1996. In 2010 the then People's Security Forces became the People's Internal Security Forces, and in 2020 was renamed as the People's Social Security Forces.
Equipment
Paektusan Pistol- 9×19mm, North Korean (DPRK) locally made copy of the CZ-75 pistol.
Type 68 Pistol- 7.62×25mm, North Korean copy of the TT-33 Pistol.
Type 70 Pistol- .32 ACP, North Korean indigenous pistol that is considered to be a copy of the Makarov PM and Walther PPK. Used by K-9 officers in some cases and for standard patrolman and patrolwomen.
Type 58 assault rifle and Type 68 assault rifle- 7.62×39mm, North Korean (DPRK) locally made version of the AK-47 and AKM. Used by Ministry of Social Security Corrections Bureau guards. Within the DPRK's internal security apparatus, assault rifles and other heavy weapons are mainly carried by specialized paramilitary units such as the Social Security Forces.
^Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "North Korea", accessed August 29, 2014.
^"Organizational Chart of North Korean Leadership"(PDF). Seoul: Political and Military Analysis Division, Intelligence and Analysis Bureau; Ministry of Unification. January 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
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