South Korean intelligence is believed to have identified signs that there is a general breakdown in discipline in North Korea, leading some to question if the regime is on the verge of collapse.

According to a government source, three North Korean soldiers defected to the South through the eastern and western borders, indicating that there could be a serious breakdown in the internal discipline of the Communist regime.

In addition to an infantryman who is believed to have two of his superiors before heading south Oct. 6, two others escaped between August and October to seek freedom in South Korea.

The North Korean authorities often station only soldiers from stable families when they are stationed in the truce village of Panmunjom and other nearby units. They are believed to have launched an investigation on the defection of the soldiers, the most recent of whom is only 18 years of age.

“There is information that military supplies have been small following the introduction of Kim Jong-un as the new leader even as physical reprimand has been on an increase. Following the replacement of the top brass and the imposition stricter military discipline, there have been growing complaints among soldiers,” one intelligence source said.