Defector: Growing Corruption in North Korean Military

Corruption is now so entrenched in North Korea that military officers will even give away information on nuclear test sites, according to an elite defector.

This, according to high-level defector Kim Su Jong (an alias), who is in Washington this week, speaking to congressional staff and reporters.

Rampant corruption, collapse of the state-controlled ration distribution system, the opening of local markets, the breaking of laws to obtain food, and the under-funding of the military and local government units has led to bribe-taking at all levels, he said.

This is occurring even among sentries charged with guarding North Korea’s long border with China and its nuclear sites, this defector and others have reported.

I can’t imagine that morale is particularly good in units that get by this way:

“Soldiers have nothing but rations distributed by the government,” he said.

“To earn some dollars, they sell military food supplies outside their bases, but then get caught and reprimanded for corruption. I think they’ve come to realize that rather than selling military supplies, they’re better off keeping their heads down and selling military secrets”¦” [Radio Free Asia]

It’s often emphasized the North Korea has an army of 1.2 million. I wonder how large that figure would still be if you stripped away the militias and various units that aren’t combat ready for lack of training, equipment, and physical fitness; and those that are actually in the business of selling cars, coal, or tungsten for a living. I don’t doubt that in the exceedingly unlikely event that someone invaded North Korea, the army and the people would be galvanized by nationalism to a considerable extent, but then, North Korea’s army today is probably more designed to suppress internal dissent than to launch or repel an invasion.