Three soldiers in Yanggang Province were recently beaten by a local disciplinary patrol while allegedly burglarizing homes to obtain pork to eat on “Victory Day,” a holiday held on July 27 to commemorate the day the Korean War armistice was signed.
According to a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province on Monday, the three soldiers, all with the 10th Corps, suffered the beating in Samsu County during the early morning hours of July 24.
The soldiers were allegedly burglarizing a village in Samsu County to obtain pork for the July 27 holiday when they were caught by a local disciplinary patrol affiliated with the county branch of the Ministry of Social Security. When they resisted, the patrol, which was made up of five veterans of the country’s special forces, beat the soldiers. The alleged burglars were then arrested for theft by local police.
The police investigated the men to determine their names, ranks and unit, not to mention why they were robbing a village. The police then called in the men’s commanding officers to hand them over.
North Korea usually tightens security nationwide in the run up to national holidays or memorials to prevent incidents and other mishaps. To prevent the destruction or theft of state or personal property during this period, the country’s authorities typically mobilize everyone from workers at factories and companies to the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and Ministry of Social Security disciplinary patrols.
Above all, the Ministry of Social Security works hard to crack down on unusual behavior or dangerous movements, bolstering patrols by the police.
One of these patrols appears to have been involved in the recent beating of the soldiers.
Relatedly, the Yanggang Province branch of the Ministry of Social Security has greatly bolstered the number of former special forces soldiers in its disciplinary patrols, tasking them with a variety of public control activities, including efforts to enforce the border closure and interregional travel bans.
Ahead of the July 27 holiday, many of these former special forces soldiers were on crime prevention patrol. One of their patrols appears to have discovered the three soldiers engaging in criminal activity.
“The origins of this beating incident can be traced to the poor treatment soldiers receive,” said the source. “If the government cared just a bit more about giving them supplies for the holiday, the soldiers would not have been robbing a civilian village, nor would they have been beaten by the patrol.”
As news of the beating has spread, an odd sense of tension has emerged between the alleged burglars’ military unit and the county police, the source added.
