Shenyang, China — In the days following the sinking of the Cheonan, various emergency anti-aircraft training sessions were conducted in the area around Pyongyang, according to sources.
One source from Pyongyang reported yesterday, April 27th, that, starting two days after the Cheonan incident, from the 28th of March until the 4th of this month, the Municipal Committee of the Party ran training sessions with the participation of Local Reserve Forces and Worker and Peasant Red Guard around Pyongyang. Additionally, Pyongyang citizens had to take part in emergency air-raid training during the same period.
Local Reserve Forces, a paramilitary organization generally controlled by the professional armed forces, are larger in size than normal regiments and composed of university students and discharged soldiers, while Worker and Peasant Red Guard units consist of workers and farmers.
The source said, “The Local Reserve Forces took a train to a position at the camp of the Pyongyang anti-aircraft gun unit. Worker and Peasant Red Guards trained for emergency summonses to major defense facilities managed by the Civil Defense Bureau.
The air-raid training of Pyongyang citizens was conducted daily from March 28 to April 4, and, since the 5th of this month, it has been carried out once every two or three days, according to the source.
The source explained, “In the offices of the People’s Safety Ministry and in private residences via the third broadcasting, a siren was blown, and residents of the people’s units and work places had to enter air-raid shelters or subway stations and stay there for an hour. The time the siren sounded was different every day, either 10 A.M., 2 P.M., or 7 P.M.”
“During that evacuation training period, migration of Pyongyang residents was completely controlled and all the belongings of workers and enterprises had to be concealed,” the source added.
Since there had been a drill between March 13th and 28th in response to the Key-Resolve joint military drill between South Korean and U.S. forces in which Local Reserve Forces, Young Red Guard and Worker and Peasant Red Guard were mobilized, Pyongyang citizens apparently presumed that this training was conducted due to South Korean maneuvers.
The source noted, “The purpose of this training was not explained by the authorities. In Pyongyang, at least once a quarter we have to join in with anti-aircraft training, so people just complain that it is hard to live with that strain, but accept it.”
