The disappearance of a magazine containing 25 rounds of live ammunition has led to a crisis situation for a company of Border Guards based in Hwajeon-ri, Bocheon County, Yangkang Province. Daily NK has learned that the provincial Border Guards have dispatched a team to look into the case after an internal investigation failed to locate the missing magazine.
Speaking with Daily NK on the 3rd, a source from the province explained, โSince the magazine disappearance happened in Hwajeon Company and then they couldnโt sort it out internally, cadres from an upper-level unit have arrived and are thoroughly searching the base. Every single soldier and officer in the company is being checked from top to bottom.โ
According to the source, the disappearance of the Kalashnikov automatic rifle magazine was uncovered during checks carried out in mid-May. Although company commanders are obliged to catalogue weapon and ammunition stores on a daily basis, the source said that since the beginning of the farming season the focus has shifted to agriculture, and, because the magazine was not in daily use, its disappearance may have gone unnoticed for some time.
Therefore, the source went on, โThe reason why the provincial investigation team is berating the company cadres so much is because nobody knows exactly when the magazine disappeared. If they knew that fact then they would be able to check the duty log to see who was on guard duty or at the barracks at the time, and then proceed with the investigation that way. As it is, they donโt even know that.โ The company ammunition store is connected directly to the company administrative building.
Aside from stringent checks within the barracks, the investigation team is also conducting a search in the local area to try and retrieve the missing ammunition, the source revealed.
Like most other armies worldwide, including that of South Korea, the Chosun Peopleโs Army conducts an investigation to try and retrieve arms and ammunition any time they are found to be missing. However, in North Korea the situation is considered particularly serious, since the army is considered to be the defender of the “leader of the revolution,” meaning that thefts are regarded as treasonous.
