North Korea’s defense ministry is urgently extending railroad lines to military fuel depots to enhance security in fuel distribution. The project, which began last week, was prompted by a major theft incident in early July involving a freight train carrying fuel for the General Political Bureau.
“Most of the fuel on the train was stolen when it stopped at a station for a few days on its way to the fuel depot in Ryongsong district,” a source in the North Korean military told The Daily NK on Aug. 30.
While the train was at the station, members of the train escort siphoned off a large amount of fuel and sold 600 kilograms to merchants at the wholesale price. The commander of the escort, feeling the pang of conscience, confessed what had happened to his unit’s political department.
The defense ministry’s fuel bureau regards the theft not as an isolated incident, but as confirmation of serious structural vulnerability in the fuel distribution system. While this is not the first time fuel has been stolen in transit, the incident has highlighted the severity of the problem.
“The defense ministry’s fuel bureau is taking practical measures to enhance security in the fuel distribution system and prevent the theft of fuel,” the source said. “As part of those measures, work on railroad links from train stations to fuel depots began in the Ryongsong, Sadong and Ryokpo districts of Pyongyang on Aug. 23.”
By enabling oil-bearing trains to head straight to the fuel depot without stopping at the station, officials hope to eliminate any chance of fuel being stolen while the train is stopped and to facilitate the swift transportation and safe storage of the fuel.
“The military hopes that by bringing the railroad tracks through the walls of the fuel depot, it will be able to tackle the issue of fuel theft and stabilize fuel transport,” the source said. “It also regards the new railroad links as a key opportunity to increase the efficiency of the fuel distribution system.”
He added: “The defense ministry emphasizes that preventing similar incidents of theft and improving escort and management throughout the fuel distribution system will help reinforce the stability of fuel distribution, as well as the military’s overall logistics management system.”
Incident sparks wider security boost at key facilities
Following the incident, the defense ministry’s fuel bureau is also planning to boost security at key fuel depots.
The bureau has announced plans to “tighten surveillance and control of workers inside the fuel depots and treat future incidents of fuel theft more strictly, regarding them not merely as individual acts of wrongdoing but as organized crime.”
The escort guards and commander who were arrested for stealing fuel and selling it to merchants are being interrogated by the military state security bureau, with the cooperation of the defense ministry’s fuel bureau.
The Ryongsong district merchants who bought the fuel have also been handed over to police investigators in the district, the source said.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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