A photograph of a train at Kaesong Station published in state media in September 2020. (Rodong Sinmun)
Daily NK has reviewed the full text of North Korea’s Railroad Passenger Transportation Act, which was enacted in May. The law prohibits North Koreans from boarding trains without a travel pass and identification and requires the purchase of a separate ticket for even entering a train station.
Article 27 (Displaying Documentation) states that “passengers wishing to travel on a passenger train must present the necessary documentation, including citizen identification and a travel pass. Travelers without that documentation cannot travel on a passenger train.” Anybody failing to present that documentation is subject to a fine under Article 38 of the law.
The new law also requires North Koreans to purchase a separate “station ticket” even if they are only visiting the train station to say goodbye to travelers or greet new arrivals.
Article 19 (Sale of Train Tickets and Station Tickets) stipulates that the railroad authorities “are to sell station tickets to citizens who would like to access the train station to drop off or pick up travelers.” Article 29 (Use of Station Tickets) further states that “individuals who are seeking to enter the train station to drop off or pick up travelers must have a station ticket and must present it to station attendants upon leaving the station.”
Tightening control over citizens’ movement
Under the law, North Koreans are forbidden from entering a train station without a station ticket and can be fined for failing to present one. These measures seem designed to strictly regulate access to train stations and prevent people from boarding trains without a ticket as part of an attempt to control movement.
“By forbidding people from boarding trains without a travel pass, North Korea is effectively blocking free movement inside the country. That’s an overt violation of the freedom of movement guaranteed by Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Kim Tae-won, a research fellow with the Korean Institute for National Unification.
“The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that ‘everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement.’ North Korea’s travel pass system is a comprehensive instrument of control that fundamentally restricts all citizens’ right of movement without proportionality or legitimate purpose,” Kim said.
In addition, North Korea has made it legally mandatory for citizens to receive training to encourage them to “voluntarily” cooperate with the railroad travel regime.
Article 26 (Legal Compliance Education) of the law states that “agencies, enterprises and organizations must provide periodic training about the relevant laws and regulations so that employees, residents and teenagers can voluntarily abide by the railroad travel regime.”
Article 32 (Prohibited Behaviors) lists ten behaviors to avoid in the context of train travel. Those behaviors include making counterfeit tickets, hanging from a moving train, blocking the front of a train, traveling beyond one’s destination, bringing contraband aboard a train, wearing clothing unsuitable for the socialist lifestyle and performing dances or singing songs from other countries.
The law also lists a range of civil and criminal consequences for violations of those regulations, depending on severity.
For example, individuals who are caught making counterfeit tickets or performing illegal ticket sales on multiple occasions and individuals who hang from a train or block the front of a train are to perform no more than three months of unpaid labor or disciplinary labor. More severe offenses are to be punished with three or more months of unpaid labor or disciplinary labor (Article 40).
“Article 40 applies administrative punishments without a criminal trial and states that offenders can be sentenced to three or more months of forced labor. Unpaid labor and disciplinary labor are a manifest violation of Forced Labor Convention (No. 29) of the International Labour Organization and Article 8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Kim said.
“In addition to the restrictions on the freedom of movement (in Article 27), this law contains a range of elements likely to infringe human rights, including the freedom of expression (Article 32) and the right to a fair trial (Articles 38–40),” the researcher added.
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