Chinese police introduce facial recognition app, ask defectors to take ‘verification photos’
According to reports, public security has been stepping up monitoring in some parts of Liaoning Province, China, recently. One such measure is the daily request for “verification photos” from North Korean defectors.
“Since the end of last month, the police in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, have started a project to install a facial authentication app on the phones of North Korean defectors,” according to a report published on the 17th by Daily NK’s local Chinese source on North Korea. “The police are requesting facial authentication every morning through this app.”
In reference to this, a source stated that “China is strengthening surveillance in a new way to block North Korean defectors’ attempts to travel to South Korea, viewing them as illegal immigrants who need to be closely monitored and controlled.”
Previously, this newspaper reported that two North Korean defectors exchanged messages asking to go to South Korea in February and were arrested by the police a few days later
Sources claim that North Korean defectors’ phone records and text messages are being censored by Chinese authorities, who also detain them if they even hint at trying to travel to South Korea. To bolster monitoring even more, they have also created face recognition software lately.
It has been alleged that this software will display your personal information along with your location if you validate your face.
North Korean defectors reportedly experience severe tension and mental strain in Chaoyang City. The source claimed that they are actually expressing extreme hopelessness, using phrases like “There is no hope anymore” and “My hands and feet feel tied up so tight that I can’t breathe.” and “I am living in a prison that is not a prison.”
A defector said, “I came to China in my late teens and lived there for over 10 years. All I’ve ever gotten is stress-related illnesses, so I decided to go to South Korea, albeit late. But the coronavirus has made it difficult to travel to South Korea, and I haven’t been able to go yet.” He continued, “Recently, the police have made me install a facial recognition app and are demanding that I verify my face every day. I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue living like this.”
The Chinese public security authorities’ measures to require North Korean defectors to install apps and verify their identity are likely to expand to other areas in Liaoning Province, including Shenyang, as well as across China, sources said, adding that the pressure North Korean defectors will feel is likely to intensify in the future.
In relation to this, it was reported that earlier this month, in a city in Jilin Province, a North Korean defector who had been on the phone with a broker to travel to South Korea was visited by police, who warned him by mentioning the exact content of the phone call and demanded verification photos taken at home every day.
Another Chinese source claimed, “This defector is still taking pictures every day and sending them to the police,” and that “they appear to be monitoring and cracking down on him while he takes pictures for authentication via his cell phone as a transitional step before implementing full-scale authentication via the app.”