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North Korea army reportedly rotting from inside

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A growing number of defectors from North Korea’s army are telling of conditions of extreme deprivation suffered by those enlisted, the Wall Street Journal reports. One defector called Mr. Roh told the WSJ: “It was lawless there, if you had money, you could basically get away with anything.”

North Korea has one of the largest armies in the world with some 1.2 million active soldiers, the WSJ says. And, while the US spends about 3% of GDP on defense, North Korea spends about 25%: North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un depends on military might to hold on to power.

Nevertheless, experts in the US and Asia reportedly believe the North Korean military may be “rotting from inside,” the WSJ said. Military leaders are understood to be entirely neglectful of the basic needs of troops and corruption is rampant. Moreover, funds for army welfare are siphoned off to nuclear weapons and missile research instead.

Defectors have given accounts of chaotic leadership, inadequate training and lack of food. Speaking to the WSJ, Roh said superior offices had stolen his food and that he and others were forced to eat wild mushrooms: some types of these mushrooms were poisonous and had killed fellow soldiers. Other troops were killed by accidental gunfire as they were not taught how to use their weapons.

Enlistment in the North Korean army is mandatory for almost all men for at least 10 years. According to the WSJ, men are enlisted at a young age to indoctrinate them with allegiance to the state. From 2016 to 2018, six soldiers managed to over the inter-Korean border.