"The NSA officers in charge of a district...know everything about an individual's life and family history. We find this out by informants... There are risks and rewards of being an informant. If an investigation fails or the NSA officer defects, his informants can be executed. When an informant finds something useful, that person will be compensated for his service with a mark of honor... he could be exempted from his bad family background, get a better job, or he could even be moved to Pyongyang for his safety."

But how are informants chosen to begin with? Well, first, a very flawed person with poor background -we would say he has "skeletons in his closet" - is singled out, taken to the NSA office, and beaten severely. He is then asked to write bad things about himself. His writing is challenged, accusations are made about facts omitted, and he is threatened with a three or four year sentence. When he begs for mercy, he is given mercy Juche style: "Sure, we'll forgive you if you inform for us."

"In the past, there was a group called the Northwest Youth Association. I was in charge of tracing the group. They were all executed. Things like possessing religious books, sharing one's faith with others, or preaching cannot exist because they undermine the Kim Jong Il regime. All we need to arrest someone is one bit of evidence such as the Bible with someone's name on it. If the Bible is found, the NSA leaves it until the real owner shows up."

"...North Koreans are classified according to their background in the residents' register [document formed by NSA after intense investigation using informants etc.]. Families of POW's are listed as Number 43, families that have been exiled and were brought back are listed as Number 49... Religious people are not classified because they were supposed to have been liquidated after the revolution. A Ms. Kim has a mother who was a Protestant evangelist. Her husband had an important post in the Party and she wanted to join the Party, but because of her background, she could not. She visited me to eliminate the record of her mother, so I took her name off the list. Confirmation of seven people is required to make a document that a person's ancestor was a Christian."

"There were lots of religious people in [several North Korean towns listed], so people in that area are still prohibited from moving to other places and no executive party members are selected from that area..."

"North Korea is a prison without bars. The reason why the North Korean system still exists is because of the strict surveillance system. When we provide the information like ‘this family believes in a religion from their grandfather's generation,' the NSA will arrest each family member. That is why entire families are scared of one another..."

"The NSA officer who investigated me knew Christian terms and... seemed to have read the Bible. [Another agent] said he was being trained to uncover religious people according to special directions from the NSA. He was supposed to look for things such as a person who remains silent with closed eyes... or when habitual smokers or drinkers quit smoking or drinking all of a sudden. These people should be targets to be watched closely."

North Korean agents learn that religion is a drug. It can destroy a regime, they are told, as Gorbachev of Russia learned when religion penetrated his nation. "In this way, all threats are related to religion."