Soldiers with roots in N. Hamgyong sent back for recovery, food procurement

The North Korean authorities are ordering soldiers originally enlisted from North Hamgyong Province, to head back to their hometowns that have been devastated by recent flooding in order to support recovery efforts. The regime is also pressuring returning soldiers to procure their own supplies by pointing out their ties to the region and spinning the orders as a privileged break from the tedium of army life.

While it is often difficult for conscripts to return home at all during their 10-year compulsory military service, the recent orders are leaving those affected with ambivalent feelings. 

The decree is being promoted as an element of Kim Jong Un’s “love for the people.” By ordering soldiers concerned about the welfare of their families to return to their hometowns, the authorities are aiming to inspire gratitude and loyalty, consistently emphasizing the “benevolence of the Marshal [Kim Jong Un],” a source in North Hamgyong Province reported to Daily NK.

However, the move can also be seen as an attempt by the regime to shift the responsibility for recovery efforts onto the populace.

“Unit commanders are pointing out that ‘it will please Kim Jong Un’ if we resolve current supply shortages through our own efforts,” the source added, commenting that the actual message implied is, “there will be repercussions for those who return empty-handed.”

Naturally, this significantly diminishes the joy for parents awaiting their children’s arrival, especially for those who have had their crops [and some, their homes] swept away in the torrential flooding.

Fleeting joy upon news of their children’s imminent return is giving way to disappointment and anxiety about the provisions request for each returning soldier, leading to difficulties between many parents and their children. 

“We give our children to the nation, and even though the state doesn’t provide them with enough food to survive, it still has the gall to send them back to devastated areas to beg for money,” an additional source in North Hamgyong lamented.

Those residing in the neighborhoods of families with returning soldiers are also concerned. Beset by orders to fulfill the tasks handed down by their superiors, soldiers are developing a reputation for becoming “thieves in an instant,” that are willing to “sever once close ties between previously tight-knit neighbors,” the source added.