When “A,” a North Pyongan province woman, first heard her son in the military had been deployed to Russia, she assumed he was just there for training.
“Another soldier in our son’s unit wrote that he’d gone to train overseas in a big, cold country,” “A” told Daily NK.
But as time passed, rumors began circulating in the neighborhood that North Korean troops had gone overseas. Then on April 28, the Rodong Sinmun published a statement by the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea that officially acknowledged the deployment to Russia. That was when “A” realized that “overseas training” actually meant deployment to the battlefield.
“B,” a South Hamgyong province woman, didn’t believe the news at first. She remembered her heart sinking when she received a note one day explaining her son was “going to train on behalf of the country.” But her son’s deployment didn’t hit home for “B” until the North Korean government officially acknowledged it.
Families left in the dark
North Korea did not provide soldiers’ families with adequate notice of their deployment.
“Soldiers have to follow their units, and parents aren’t in a position to say anything,” “A” said.
“There were rumors, and a note had been hand delivered, but we didn’t know what was going on until our son was already over there. We weren’t told anything in advance by the unit or commander,” “B” said.
“My son went because his country needed him — that’s what it comes down to. We always thought of it as lending our boy to the army, but it looks like the army has taken full ownership,” “B” added.
Until officially acknowledging the troop deployment, the regime had reportedly dismissed related rumors as groundless and tried to stop them from spreading by threatening to prosecute rumormongers for treason.
The bigger issue is that families found out about their sons’ deployment not through official notification by the state, but through letters, rumors and whispers.
Families were forced to accept uncertainty about whether their missing sons were alive or dead. And since families only learned about the deployment after the fact, they had no way of checking their son’s unit or assignment.
“While our son is in the Storm Corps, he seems to have been attached to an unidentified unit when he was sent (to Russia),” “A” said.
“We heard he’s involved in transporting ammunition or communications. But soldiers have been ordered not to talk about their location or mission, and my son’s fellow soldiers kept speaking vaguely about ‘overseas training.'”
“They didn’t say where our son went, but the impression we got from the letter was that he’s in a combat unit at an outpost. There was talk about potential casualties there, but we couldn’t verify that or ask his unit,” “B” said.
The families of soldiers on the battlefield remain unsure where exactly they are stationed or what they are doing.
Desperate parents hope their sons are alive
Following deployment, communication with soldiers abroad has become even more difficult. Parents can barely remember the last time they heard their sons’ voices.
“Whatever the reason may be, we don’t have any news at all. All we can do is wait for the government to pass along some news,” “A” said.
“Since the government has officially announced (the deployment), we’re trying to reassure ourselves that our son is still alive. We’re not asking for much — he can be blind or missing an arm or leg as long as he’s alive,” “B” said with anguish in her voice.
Parents’ understanding of their sons’ living conditions is mostly based on indirect and outdated information from before they left the country or from their initial deployment.
“We heard he was sleeping under one blanket near the barbed wire and that he was sometimes served rice and meat broth at his meals. Soldiers in the Storm Corps are reportedly fed pretty well, but right now, we’re completely in the dark,” “A” said.
“Our son said that his knees get frostbite on cold days and that he does guard duty at night. Apparently, they’re staying in tents during maneuvers. His meals are supposedly decent, but another time he mentioned craving some tofu or hot meatballs over rice, which broke my heart to hear,” “B” said.
War stories add to families’ anxiety
The government’s deliberate concealment of information about soldiers’ survival and work environment is a crime against humanity under international law. Critics say the fact that families are suffering from ignorance about whether their children are dead or alive in an environment of scarce information is another example of state violence caused by intentional silence.
Families’ anxiety is made even worse by continuing rumors about the brutality of the war.
“I heard about one soldier who lost his hearing when a bomb fell next to him. They took him somewhere that wasn’t even a hospital and treated him by stuffing paper in his ears. If that’s going on, could my son be safe?” “A” remarked.
“B” mentioned hearing about the war from a friend who lives in the same neighborhood as her son’s unit, the wife of an officer with the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
“They apparently struggle getting to sleep at night from the noise of gunfire on the Russian battlefield. There are examples of comrades being accidentally injured by landmines and entire units being wiped out by bombs dropped from drones. I’ve also heard about a lot of ‘kamikaze heroes,'” she said.
Even more shocking are the orders given by military leadership.
“I’m told the soldiers have been instructed that Ukraine is a neo-Nazi state, so everyone is fair game — the soldiers are authorized to harm or kill men and women, young and old. I’m concerned my son will come back a monster,” “B” said.
“I just wish they would send us a list of the wounded or some kind of notice. Nowadays, I sit before the portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and pray my son will come back alive.”
‘This is war, not training’
Neither “A” nor “B” regard their sons’ deployment to Russia as simple military training.
“The government describes this as ‘aiding liberation,’ but it’s a war where people are standing around and shooting people dead,” “A” said.
“If they’re fighting on the battlefield in military uniforms, then we’re in the war. What else could that mean?” “B” said.
“The government has sent our soldiers over there to be killers without even asking our permission. We’re told the Ukrainian army is evil for invading Russia, but why would they order soldiers to slaughter everyone, including women and children? Isn’t that what those American bastards did in Sinchon?” “B” said with noticeable anger.
“B” said that training on behalf of the fatherland was “the beginning of unending pain.”
International law violations
Experts see North Korea’s troop deployment as a serious violation of international norms, including human rights and humanitarian law.
“Sending soldiers to the battlefield without giving families advance notice and then not even disclosing whether those soldiers are alive or dead simultaneously violates basic rights guaranteed by Article 19 (the right to receive information) and Article 23 (protection of family rights) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Kim Tae-won, an international law scholar and head researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).
“Behavior of this sort goes beyond merely violating families’ right to know. It violates an obligation under international humanitarian law to quickly notify families of soldiers’ condition in wartime. In short, it goes against the Geneva Convention,” Kim added.
“Forcible relocation and involuntary separation of families are expressly prohibited under international law. These cases of deployment and family separation can be understood as forcible relocation or forcible disappearance,” Kim said.
“This also clashes with the prohibition on separating families specified in Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
If deployed soldiers have been ordered to disregard the principle of protecting civilians, that would be an overt violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is mandatory during wartime. That could be regarded as a war crime or crime against humanity under International Criminal Court jurisdiction. Experts see that as the outcome of a system of state violence that degrades soldiers’ ethics and humanity, which the international community should no longer ignore.
“North Korea’s silence and concealment are matters that could fall under ICC jurisdiction. Since North Korea is waging war overseas, that could also be considered a war crime or crime against humanity. The international community, and particularly the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, need to get more actively involved in guaranteeing soldiers’ and their families’ access to information and families’ right to stay together,” Kim stressed.
