North Korean Soldiers Purged for Taking Bribes from Smugglers

According to this report (from a defecting NK soldier, via DailyNK), 681 North Korean soldiers in Hoeryong received dishonorable discharges for taking bribes from smugglers and illegal border-crossers. One could assume that their next stop will be a very bad place. The hot contraband? American, South Korean, and Chinese music, and VCRs.

Hoeryong was also the location for the North Korean dissenters’ video from last week. Sounds like someone in Pyongyang decided to send an inspection team up there. Factor in the normal caution about the source, but there’s increasing evidence that what Natan Sharansky calls “doublethinkers” in North Korea are increasingly acting on their disillusionment with the regime.