The family of a former military officer was recently found collapsed in their home due to starvation in Hoeryong, North Hamgyong Province, Daily NK has learned.
According to a source in the province on Dec. 17, the family was found collapsed in their home on Dec. 10 by the group leader of their local inminban (people’s unit).
The head of the family, surnamed Chae, had worked as a military officer on the “frontlines” in Kangwon Province for around 10 years. After leaving the military in 2017, he returned to his hometown of Hoeryong with his two children. He began selling alcohol and food to make a living as that kind of business does not require much money to start.
The family faced a severe threat to their livelihood, however, when North Korean authorities began their “no stone left unturned” crackdown on street and alleyway businesses. The family was caught up in crackdowns by local police and inspection teams every time they went out to the streets to sell food, and their business gradually began to suffer as a result.
Last month, for example, the family went out to the streets with cooking oil and stove to sell ggwabaegi (Korean-style twisted bread sticks). Most days, however, they were unable to earn any money at all because of crackdowns by local police and inspection teams. More recently, despite further attempts to sell ggwabaegi, they failed to sell what they had made on a daily basis, putting them further into debt.
Chae’s family was soon left with nothing more to eat before they were discovered collapsed due to hunger in their unheated home.
After the group leader of their inminban found them, the family’s situation was reported to the head of the local inminban. The inminban head proceeded to hold a meeting where she called for every member of the organization to donate whatever they could, “even 100 grams of rice, corn, or anything else that can be eaten.”
Each family in the inminban went on to donate 1.5 kilograms of rice, two kilograms of corn, and one kilograms of corn soup to Chae’s family. According to the source, Chae and his family are now eking by with the food they received from their neighbors.
“The family of a former soldier – someone who should receive protection from the government – almost died of starvation,” the source told Daily NK, adding, “The family is surviving with food from the inminban, but the situation is still unfortunate because it’s unclear how they’ll survive after everything has been eaten.”
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