North Korea’s 8th Corps Reserve Forces Division Commander recently came under fire for delaying the fall military enlistment process after taking issue with female recruits using contraceptive devices, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in North Pyongan Province told Daily NK on Oct. 2 that an internal review by the Reserve Forces Division (RFD) found that “autumn enlistments had gone relatively smoothly” but leveled criticism at the 8th Corps RFD commander, who had been put in charge of the enlistment process at North Pyongan Province’s Military Mobilization Department.
Specifically, the review faulted him for delaying enlistment and organization of new recruits by “making matters unnecessarily complicated.”
This year, RFD commanders of each region’s military corps were tasked with overseeing fall enlistments and heading up each area’s Military Mobilization Department. Accordingly, the 8th Corps RFD commander was deployed to manage North Pyongan Province’s Military Mobilization Department.
However, the RFD commander soon called for the local RFD to postpone the planned date to escort new recruits to their posts after declaring that all female enlistees found to have undergone procedures to insert IUDs (contraceptive devices) would fail their physical exams.
The source explained that North Pyongan Province’s Military Mobilization Department had not previously raised any issues with recruits using contraceptive devices, but the 8th Corps RFD commander delayed the enlistment schedule by raising the contraceptive issue for the first time.
“When families send their daughters to the military, they always make them get an IUD,” the source said. “It has become more or less customary for women leaving their families to get an IUD as a preventative contraceptive measure due the pervasiveness of rape in the military.”
The RFD was aware of these circumstances and therefore did not fail female recruits for using contraceptive devices. The 8th Corps RFD commander, however, was oblivious to the harsh reality facing female enlistees and kicked up a fuss about the devices, only to find himself a target for criticism by the RFD.
“The 8th Corps RFD commander called into question whether it was ‘normal’ for 18 and 19 year-old women to have contraceptive devices. The RFD responded by telling him it ‘wasn’t a notable issue’ and that ‘he shouldn’t make a fuss about it and [instead focus on] meeting the timeline for organizing and transporting the newly enlisted troops.’ The RFD also stressed the need to keep the issue quiet so that it didn’t reach the ears of the public.”
The source explained that RFD’s order for silence on the matter implies that they are trying to keep the truth about the commonplace nature of sexual assault against female soldiers from coming to light.
However, people who have become familiar with the incident in various ways are criticizing the RFD for treating widespread sexual assault in the military as a matter of course and question whether RFD officials make their own daughters enlist.
For its part, the RFD criticized the 8th Corps RFD commander for “knowing nothing about the realities of enlistment” and subjected him to intense questioning over his decision to delay enlistment in the province over such a “trivial matter.”
This year, 90% of recruits in North Pyongan Province were male. Female enlistees were primarily women who had graduated from school in the spring and had entered society as laborers.
Translated by Rose Adams. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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