Soldiers in a unit mobilized under North Korea’s new 20×10 regional development policy to build factories in South Hwanghae Province’s Unchon County are being forced to gather supplies for the projects.
“A unit from the 124th Regiment has been assigned to factory work in Unchon County since this spring. After the regiment was ordered to find its own solution to a supply shortage, soldiers have been going on leave to bring back supplies since mid-April,” a source in North Hwanghae Province told Daily NK on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Kim gave instructions for carrying out the 20×10 regional development policy during the 19th Expanded Meeting of the Politburo of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Jan. 23-24 and personally signed orders mobilizing units from the Korean People’s Army to build factories in the provinces.
That led to the organization of the 124th Regiment, which consists of troops assigned from various military units. Units from the regiment have been dispatched to construction sites in the 20 cities and counties designated for this year.
However, the source said that poor conditions in the army have kept the 124th Regiment from receiving a steady supply of rice or side dishes, leaving many of the soldiers famished as they attempt to carry out the construction work.
“Given these circumstances, a unit from the 124th Regiment in Onchon County has been trying to deal with the supply shortfall by asking soldiers from nearby areas in North or South Hwanghae Province or South Pyongan Province to return home on leave and bring back supplies,” the source said.
The unit has sent the soldiers home in civilian clothing with officers attached to make sure they purchase rice, corn, soybeans, sugar and oil, among other items. The unit is allowing the soldiers to spend from a week to as long as a month on leave, depending on the amount of supplies they bring back, the source said.
Grumbling among soldiers left behind
While the soldiers are away on leave, those who lack the money or connections to acquire supplies remain at the construction site, where they are doing double duty to keep construction on schedule.
“The soldiers still at the construction site are complaining that even if the soldiers who are on leave manage to bring back some supplies, more than half of those supplies will be pocketed by their superiors, with just a fraction actually trickling down to the rank and file. They’re fed up with having to do backbreaking labor for something that won’t even resolve the supply issue,” the source said.
After learning about the soldiers’ grievances, unit officers have been taking the soldiers aside and reminding them that the regiment was set up on the party’s orders and that the current measures are unavoidable if the unit is to make up for the shortfall in supplies. The officers are also instructing the soldiers not to grumble about the soldiers on leave who are patriotically bringing back supplies and to instead focus on their duties.
Once the batch of soldiers currently on leave brings back supplies, the unit is planning to send another batch of soldiers, the source said.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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