North Korea has one of the largest militaries in the world with about 2 million active soldiers
and around 6 million in reserve.
The sheer number is one of the reasons a military conflict with the country is expected result
in huge loss of life and is a major deterrence.
The dictator Kim Jong-Un has ruled the country with an iron hand.
To continue his reign, he has showered gift to the influential people and exploited the
general public.
The economy is in shambles with widespread poverty.
The military is not excluded from the pain, and the situation of a common soldier is pitiful.
In this video, Defense Updates examines HOW SHOCKINGLY POOR IS THE CONDITION OF A NORTH
KOREAN SOLDIER?
Lets us get into the details.
To have the numbers North Korean leadership has forced military service on its people.
All men and women over the age of 17 have to enlist.
Men have to serve for a period of 10 years and women have to serve 7 years.
Skilled workers, technicians, members of some government organizations, and children of
political and military notables are often excluded from this.
Service personnel are not allowed to marry, so they typically stay single.
Soldiers in the military all over the world are feed well.
But in case of North Korea, the situation is not like that.
The huge number coupled with limited budget results in very limited food availability.
Cadets get only around 700 and 850 grams per day at the most.
This mainly includes potatoes and raw corn kernels.
Many soldiers pass out during training due to low nutrition.
Soldiers are expected to grow food to supplement their otherwise meager rations.
They are even made to steal food from civilians by their superiors.
The food crisis also results in stunted growth.
A North Korean soldier in his late 20s was 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 132 pounds,
whereas an average male of the same age in South Korea is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs
154 pounds.
Poor diet leads to missed periods for female recruits.
Viewers may remember, a North Korean soldier who managed to defect last year was found
to be very malnourished and had dozens of fully grown parasitic worms in his intestines.
Rules in the military are stringent with almost no basic rights.
Leaves are granted as per the whims of the superiors and are very limited.
A cadet may, in rare cases, be granted a two-week leave once or twice during his entire service tenure.
The training in the North Korean military is not only at a technical level but also
at an ideological level.
Actually, more than 50% of the time is spent on ideological training which is nothing but
brainwashing.
They are mentally conditioned to follow each and every order of Kim.
Since North Korea is cut off from the world, it is reasonably easy to conduct these kinds
of mental manipulation.
The female soldiers in North Korea suffer even more than their male counterparts.
Sexual exploitation by men bosses is common.
There is no place to complain and resistance results in humiliation at multiple levels
The North Korean military lacks supplies including simple needs like sanitary napkins.
Due to this many female soldiers also work as prostitutes during nights to make money.
The quality of uniforms provided to the soldiers is poor, to say the least.
Boots are known to get torn within months and no replacements are provided until they
are totally unusable.
The clothing is not adequate for the winter season and many soldiers suffer from frost bites.
A soldiers life is challenging all over the world.
In North Korea, it is no different, a soldier is on duty from 5 am to 10 pm.
But the difference is that unlike most other counties the soldiers in North Korea enjoy
very poor medical assistance.
There are military hospitals but with very limited capability.
Though being a nation of socialist ideology, soldiers have to buy medicine from outside
as the military hospitals don’t have the supplies.
If a soldier dies during the period in the military there is no sympathy or financial
assistance to the family.
Poor conditions in military service resulted in many recruits to attempt defection to South
Korea.
Kim knows the situation and uses brutal military police to prevent this.
A soldier suspected to have any intention of defection is jailed for life mostly without
any trials.
Anyone caught defecting is generally killed.