Residents of Hyesan are reportedly referring to the 12th Military Corps based in the city with disparaging labels including an “army of beggars” and “Makhno’s (a notorious peasant insurgent commander in Russia during the 1910s who espoused anarchism) army.”
Members of the unit are known to be poorly equipped and supplied, have extremely downtrodden appearances, and have been accused of relentless thievery.
“Recently, Hyesan residents have begun to avoid 12th Military Corps soldiers,” said a Ryanggang Province-based source. “The soldiers are like beggars due to the lack of supplies from the government and they cause problems for people because of their economic issues.”
“They travel around in groups to scam people or steal things, and lash out with violence if anyone tries to protest or get in their way,” he continued.
Daily NK previously reported that the Hyesan 12th Corps had been unable to prepare properly for the winter season, with the government failing to provide suitable clothing or food.
Some soldiers in the corps have not even been issued with boots and just wear socks, resorting to stealing Chinese-made shoes for themselves. They are frequently involved in acts of theft and other crimes. However, it’s widely understood that the soldiers have little choice but to steal to survive.
The soldiers are chronically malnourished and many are suffering from tuberculosis. The government has established a temporary facility at a deer farm in the Samsu area to provide care for tuberculosis patients, and some 35% of the corps’ officers are using the facility, reported the source. This suggests that the conditions for regular troops in the corps are even worse.
“There are many who have run away from the corps because life is so tough,” said the source. “They sometimes return after about 6 months and are given dishonorable discharges, which leads to significant difficulties in life once they leave the military. But they choose to endure the dishonorable discharge because it’s better than dying.”
There are military units in the same area that are much better off than the 12th Military Corps. Units guarding the border in Ryanggang Province receive relatively large amounts of money from smuggling operations and are subsequently much better fed and clothed.
Parents now almost universally want their children to be assigned to the military border patrol, the Bodyguard Command, or the Coast Guard or Navy, where conditions are better than in the regular military, and provide large sums of money to bribe officials to ensure it occurs.
“Soldiers in the 12th Military Corps are not viewed very kindly by the local population, but parents who have children in the military view their situation with concern and pity,” said the source.
