North Korea’s Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces (MPAF) has ordered Sino-North Korean border guard brigades to completely swap stations, in what appears to be the latest attempt by the new regime in Pyongyang to stop flows of illegal cross-border traffic and information.
It is the first such complete change of station ordered by the MPAF since the 6th Corps in South Hamkyung Province was accused of attempting a coup d’état in 1995 and disbanded.
A military source from within North Hamkyung Province explained the situation to Daily NK yesterday, saying, “The Ministry has issued an order changing the station of border guard brigades; so, 27th Brigade guarding the Tumen River area of the border and 25th Brigade in Yangkang Province are swapping locations. I have been told that the brigade guarding the Amrok River area of Jagang Province and the one in North Pyongan Province are swapping bases in a similar way.”
“The movement from Chongjin in North Hamkyung and from Hyesan in Yangkang is happening now,” the source said. “’Eternity’, the train used for carrying military equipment and personnel, started transporting their gear last week.”
“The base withdrawals are being done in secret, but movements on that kind of scale can be spotted from outside,” he added, commenting that the work is attracting a lot of attention from local people.
“It is a measure based on the authorities’ judgment that dealings between local citizens and border guard units are the biggest cause of the inability to stop defections,” he concluded.
“Everything is being dismantled and taken, without exception. It looks like it will take quite a long time for the new arrivals to restore the base. Time is obviously a problem, but those of materials, equipment and money are going to be no easier to solve.”
In North Korea, a brigade consists of around 1,500 troops, and moving all the weapons, equipment and other items needed for that number of people will not be a quick process. “If they do it at the current speed it will probably all be finished in May or June, so around two or three months from now,” the source claimed.
