By Choi Sung-jin
Although North Korea’s army sends agents from its top security organ to frontline units to try to stop the increasing number of desertions, they are failing to prevent the hungry soldiers from going AWOL.
“The North Korean People’s Army is conducting an extensive inspection, but is finding it difficult to prevent AWOLs by hunger-stricken troops,” a source in the North’s Yanggang Province was quoted as saying by the Daily NK, a media outlet specializing in North Korea news, Friday.
North Korean soldiers suffering from food shortages had anticipated they would fill their stomachs on the July 27 Armistice Day, which is a festive day among soldiers, but only found some rice cakes on their dinner tables, forcing many to leave their units without passes, the source said.
“Military discipline has become so loose that even the security agents do not regard the desertions as serious as long as the soldiers do not cross borders and leave the country,” he went on to say.
In July alone, there have been three AWOLs, he said, adding that it indicates the failure of the Kim Jong-un regime to inspire its soldiers with military spirit.
Earlier, a Chinese source was quoted as saying five North Korean soldiers armed with rifles had crossed the Sino-Korean border and engaged in robbing Chinese civilians. After an exchange of fire with the Chinese border guards, two of them were arrested and the other three are at large, the source said.