North Korean police officials from across the country gathered in Pyongyang this week for their first conference in 12 years, underscoring the country’s efforts to combat outside influence and strengthen public discipline through the regime’s basic units of social control and surveillance.

At the Fifth National Conference of Heads of Branch Public Security Stations held from Tuesday to Wednesday, Minister of Public Security Ri Thae Sop called on the country’s law enforcement to combat “illegal activities hindering economic and social development,” Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday.

Branch stations represent the lowest tier of the Ministry of Public