A soldier who had completed his military service and was heading home has died of starvation largely due to delays in North Korea’s rail system.
“While heading home to Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, after ending his military service in Anbyun, Kangwon Province, a soldier died of starvation,” reported a North Hamgyong Province-based source. “The soldier wasn’t able to eat for a week on the train home, which was delayed, and was dead on arrival.”
The North Korean authorities typically provide three transportable meals for soldiers who finish their service. This is because it can take up to 24 hours to travel the long distances in the country even when trains are running on time. A separate source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK that the soldier who died on the train had eaten all of his meals but may have been too wary of asking others for food. With no money or food, he ultimately died of starvation.
Another North Korean reportedly died in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, after a train delay prevented medicine from reaching him in time.
“In early May, a person living in Hyesan traveled on an express train passing through Hyesan, Manpo and Pyongyang to Pyongsong, South Pyongan Province, to urgently buy medicine for a patient,” said a Ryanggang-Province based source.
“He was unable to reach his destination for three days and took a taxi from Kaechon, South Pyongan Province, to get to Pyongsong. He took a long-haul taxi back to Hyesan after buying the medicine, but the patient had already died.”
The man found out the reason for the train’s delay later. The rails had come apart on a section of the tracks and a repair crew took a day to fix it. Then a power outage near Manpo, Jagang Province, wasted another day, and finally the tow train was delayed in Kaechon, South Pyongan Province, which cost another day.
North Korea places great importance on its railway system and calls it the “driver of the people’s economy” and the “country’s arteries.” North Korea’s transportation and logistics system is marked by an emphasis on railways, with roads as a supporting feature. More than 60% of travelers take trains, while 90% of the country’s goods are transported by rail.
Power outages (90% of the country’s rails are electrified), equipment shortages, and poorly-maintained railway tracks lead to chronic delays. The situation negatively impacts the country’s economy and causes significant trouble for ordinary North Koreans.
It currently takes two and a half hours by KTX to get from Seoul to Busan, but North Korean trains take almost 24 hours to go the same distance, even when traveling non-stop. It can take as long as 3-4 days to reach a destination due to power outages, breakdowns and railway maintenance, and up to one or two weeks if the issues are severe.
There are also delays caused by the “special trains” used by Kim Jong Un and other high-level officials. When these are in operation, regular trains used by most North Koreans must stop operating for several hours until a special order that allows the special trains to pass is lifted.
North Korea’s railway minister, Kim Yun Hyok, was scheduled to speak in regards to connecting the eastern seaboard railway at the high-level inter-Korean dialogue agreed upon during the April inter-Korean summit, which has since been cancelled by the North.
