N. Korean soldiers leave barracks en masse looking for food

Korea Times ^ | 01/01/11

[TigerLikesRooster]

01-01-2011 21:38

N. Korean soldiers leave barracks en masse looking for food

An increasing number of North Korean soldiers are showing “AWOL” behaviors to avoid intense physical training and look for food, the local daily, Chosun Ilbo, said Saturday, sourcing it to RFA.

AWOL is a military acronym for "absence without leave."

“It’s hard to punish them because there are too many of such soldiers,” an unnamed North Korean informant, told RFA in the report.

Some of the soldiers display “on-off’ AWOL behaviors, for example, leaving the barracks in the morning looking for food and coming back in the evening.

“The en masse absence is even causing difficulty in carrying out training according to schedule,” the source said.

The sorry state of the military even earned Kim Jong-un’s ire, who reportedly said: “Those incapable military commanders should resign.”

The informant, introduced in the report as a soldier, put the low morale in the North Korean military this way. “If there were 10 AWOL reports, the actual number would be about 50.”

[Michael Barnes]

Wars have been triggered for less critical reasons.

Nods

Agree with what you say. Desperation, if these accounts are true; could lead to a NORK troop crossing that is completely un-coordinated. It would be what sets it all off (starving NORK soldiers crossing the DMZ armed, SK lighting them up and the NORK's that are not aware of the crossing open up themselves. it's on.)

[mewykwistmas]

They are on the verge of war so it could be war prep dis-information. On the other hand, NK has a lot of soldiers to feed.

[DTogo]

The NK “locusts” might not have the strength to make it over the DMZ. Those that do might just surrender for a meal.

[I still care]

I must have missed that. That would explain a lot, wouldn’t it? Collective countries have such supply shortage problems they never can deal with unexpected disasters.

No wonder NK is going nuts. They must have lost so many crops, etc.

[dirtboy]

In Korea, they usually drain the rice paddys in mid-August and harvest in October. A typhoon in early September could well have severely diminished what rice it didn’t destroy.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Crossing the world's most heavily mined stretch of land, the DMZ/MDL, 250 kilometers, Korean coast to coast, riddled with both DPRK and ROK land mines, will be no small feat by hungry deserters. 1.2mm landmines on the ROK control side alone, who knows how many on the DPRK side, maybe just as many, could be close to 2 million of these. Folks would have to navigate such terrain; the discouragements and impediments would be significant, IMHO. I just as soon think the Korean People would turn on Pyongyang instead and just raid that place en-masse, might even eat some of the plump Korean Central Television evening news announcers such as Pyongyang Patty, in a poshintang-like stew, half out of abject hunger and half out of unrestrained outrage.

[pallis]

What if they were to throw a war, and the NK troops show up with their bowels and chop sticks?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Chosun Ilbo is getting the idea. Running back to back photos of skinny, hungry KPA soldiers, against Opulent, Fat Boy "Youth General", Kim Jong Un, grandson of the terrible Kim il Sung who started the Korean War itself--who is now criticising the soldiers in the ranks.

[Always Independent]

There was a show on tv about soldiers that serve near the DMZ. I think it mainly talked about the SK soldier. One of the requirements was that they had to be at least 6 ft to do duty up there. It might even pertain to US Marines also. The thinking behind this was that it be more intimdating to the NK army. I would also say that most if not all the NK army is conscripted and only those chosin to be in the special forces receive the best of the nutrition because with the NK old generals and Kim they use these special forces to control and protect their collective asses.

[Jack Hydrazine]

I’d like to see them make a run for the border to Kimchi Bell!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TigerLikesRooster.

• But, where's does China's J-20 fifth-generation fighter jet fit in?!

[AmericanInTokyo]

SEOUL, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Kim Jong-un, North Korea's designated future leader, is building luxury homes for himself while the population goes hungry, intelligence reports indicate. The building spree is costing the impoverished nation more than $150 million, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday, citing satellite photos and South Korean intelligence assessments. Kim Jong-un last month was named successor to his ill father, Kim Jong-il. A house in central Pyongyang where Kim Jong-un grew up has been upgraded to luxury specifications. It is connected by a tunnel to his father's house. A new villa in North Hamgyong province, known for its hot springs and spas, also is believed to be for Kim Jong-un. Local residents were forced to build a railway line and road leading to it, the report said. A huge structure being built on the coast at Songdowon has an undersea gallery with a view of aquatic life 300 feet under the surface. South Korean intelligence says the Kim family has at least 33 villas served by their own private train stations. In November, the U.N.'s World Food Program said a third of North Korean children were chronically malnourished, along with many pregnant and nursing women.

[nuconvert]

Maybe the South should put up signs at the DMZ, telling the N.K. soldiers that they will be fed & they’re welcome to cross over & defect if they lay down their guns.

[Dick Bachert]

Just might work.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Some of the soldiers display “on-off’ AWOL behaviors, for example, leaving the barracks in the morning ... and coming back in the evening.

That is strange behavior, returning to their barracks at night when they could be sleeping outside in the weather. Strange indeed.

[SevenofNine]

OH OH crack in miltary regime PERHAPS????

[SevenofNine]

That very hyrorcritcal of Chia Chub doing that

[SeeSharp]

[Owl558]

“...starving NORK soldiers crossing the DMZ armed...”

Interesting theory. It could happen, but I am hard-pressed to think of any historical examples of such an event actually occuring. Do you know of any?

[jhpigott]

“North Korea’s system is unsustainable and coming apart fast, which leads to the million dollar question: what are they willing to do in their desperation?”

If I were Kim and knew things were headed downhill and I wanted to make sure I didn’t go down quietly, I’d make sure my most trusted and loyal generals command the 170mm Kosan artillery brigades and all the MLRS batteries along the DMZ within range of Seoul (about 500 batteries all together)