With the authorities collecting military rice supplies in agricultural communities throughout North Korea, the age-old practice of pilfering supplies on the ground is repeating itself this year, as soldiers deployed to farm towns to collect the rice and local residents view this as a “time of opportunity” during which they can personally benefit.
According to a Daily NK source in North Pyongan province recently, the military sent “military rice requisition teams” of eight to 10 men to Naejung Station in Yomju county. From there, they visit nearby farms and collect, store and transport grains such as rice and corn.
Naejung Station is a key node for shipping military rice supplies collected from farms to military logistical departments. Accordingly, people who live nearby conspire with the soldiers sent there every year to trade items and grain.
“Locals purchase items the soldiers want and trade them for some of the grain the soldiers are storing,” the source said. “This structure in which both sides trade for what they want has been in place for a long time.”
The problem is that so much grain gets pilfered in the process.
Commanders encourage troops to “use the opportunity well”
“Considering precedent, perhaps 1 ton of grain per soldier gets traded under the table during the military rice requisition period,” the source said. “There must be hundreds of key collection points like Naejung Station nationwide, so the amount of lost grain would be enormous if this sort of thing goes on in all of them.”
However, this corrupt practice continues in the shadows, and even soldiers themselves welcome being mobilized to collect military rice supplies as a golden opportunity to profit personally.
“The commanders sending the soldiers suggest that they should ‘use the opportunity well,’ demanding that they obtain supplies their units need while making a little bit for themselves on the side,” the source said. “If they can’t, people call them stupid, and they won’t get another opportunity to collect rice.”
North Korea’s military authorities are aware that this sort of corruption occurs every year during the collection of military rice supplies, but they cannot do much about it because every stage of the process—beginning with the selection of the collection teams—is corrupt.
“The authorities threaten to replace people immediately if problems arise, but even if people are replaced when issues emerge, other personnel simply repeat the corruption,” the source said. “Soldiers on the requisition teams say that threats to replace them if they get caught simply mean they shouldn’t get caught.”
“The amount of grain decreases at every stage from the harvest to the collection of military rice,” the source said. “With the understanding taking firmer root that one must use opportunities to survive, eradicating the pilfering of grain won’t be easy.”
