Farmers around Hoiryeong are having their worst fears realized, facing attacks on their crops by groups of soldiers coming to steal from the already limited corn crop.
A source from the North Hamgyung Province city explained the situation yesterday, saying, “Things are not good this year because of natural phenomena and a lack of fertilizer, so there is not much corn as it is; but farmers also can’t sleep at night for fear of raids by soldiers. Around Yuseon Farm, prison guards and border patrol units are fighting over territory and emptying out the place, which has driven young discharged soldiers and their families to stand watch, armed with clubs.”
At this time of year, North Korea’s farmers construct storage facilities to house yields taken in beginning in the middle of last month. The corn is usually distributed to farm workers after it has been dried, so of course the workers are doing all they can to prevent the military from taking their main lifeline.
For their part, the reason why soldiers are engaging in this behavior is mainly that they are being supplied with much smaller rations than they used to get; the General Logistics Bureau, the section of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces which is officially responsible for feeding them, has handed down orders abrogating responsibility and telling each individual unit to feed themselves.
“Although they are also hungry right now, it seems like they are already competing to solve their winter food problems,” the source noted.
According to the source, the area suffers particularly because the headquarters of both the No. 5 Battalion of the No. 335 Prison Guard Regiment and a brigade of the Border Guard Regiment are based in the Gyerim area of Hoiryeong, of which Yuseon Farm is also a part. These troops appear to be using Yuseon Farm as a private grain store, coming and going at all times of the day and night.
However, a former officer with the Prison Guard Regiment told The Daily NK, “The guard regiment is a reserve-level force made up of factory laborers who go to receive training in correctional operations for a certain period of time, so for that reason there aren’t many soldiers in active service at any given moment. If you ask me, the ones raiding Yuseon Farm are probably the border guards.”
“When I was still there the prison guards lived well,” the former officer continued. “The laborers used to go to training quite happily and of their own volition because food was plentiful and it was better than being at home. But having heard that they now have to make their own lunchbox to take along to training, it sounds like the food situation has gotten pretty bad.”
The source from Hoiryeong added more, saying, “Apart from a couple of officers involved in smuggling, those who entered the military the day before yesterday were malnourished and couldn’t walk properly. According to one soldier who got caught trying to steal corn by some former soldiers defending their farm, each squad has been ordered by central command to obtain 200kg of corn by the 1st of December.”
“They’re choosing now to strike because it’s easier to steal the corn while it’s laid out to dry outside or in hastily boarded storerooms. Once it has been threshed and warehoused it’s not so easy to get at,” he explained.
