The mandatory security training has been put in place to ensure residents do not discredit leader Kim Jong-un.
Government personnel ordered the citizens to have the sessions as it is believed that information about life in North Korea is being leaked out too easily.
A source told Radio Free Asia’s North Korean service: “Chinese residents living in North Korea often make their living working as small-time traders or merchants, and they now have to attend security education sessions to learn what to keep in mind when traveling to China.
“At least once a month, ethnic Chinese who make frequent trips to China must visit the ethnic Chinese committee office in Chongjin city’s Pohang district to be briefed on the latest instructions from the foreign affairs division of the State Security Department.”
It is estimated that there are at least 4,000 to 10,000 ethnic Chinese living in North Korea.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
But many have allegedly been instructed on how to act if they go back to China.
The claims, made last month before North Korea’s hydrogen bomb test, come as the rogue state becomes the centre of international condemnation, following a series of nuclear missile tests over Japan.
North Korean officials are said to want to curb information on daily life and the government.
They also want to ban any information and price changes of North Korean products – except if the traders are selling the goods themselves.
And the training sessions are reportedly mandatory for all Chinese people who leave North Korea and go abroad. Failure to take up the training could result in travel bans.
The source added: “The issuance of [exit] visas can be delayed or refused if they do not respect these regulations.”
“Many ethnic Chinese who make a living by selling goods are suffering because they cannot leave the country,” the source said.
“Even if they don’t attend the educational sessions, they have to report to the ethnic Chinese committee, at least verbally, with evidence to prove they have full knowledge of the sessions’ contents.”
One Chinese resident of Chongjin’s Songpyong district has been waiting three months for a visa to be granted because he failed to show up for the security session.
The source said he has been summoned by the state security department because of his absences from security training sessions.
Visas cost around £1,100 (10,000 Chine yuan).