Six North Korean border guards defect to China ‘due to hunger and fatigue’

Korean People's Army (KPA) soldiers gather as  part of celebrations marking the birthday of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, known as the 'Day of the Shining Star', in 2019

Credit: ED JONES /AFP

A unit of six North Korean border soldiers has defected to China, according to reports, in a sign of the increasingly high level of discontent in the reclusive country. 

While there has been a steady stream of one or two guards fleeing the authoritarian country, a group this large is highly unusual. 

The soldiers fled across the Yalu River on the border with China earlier this month along with their weapons, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported this week.

The unit was part of the 25th Border Guard brigade, which has been deployed to stop other North Koreans from escaping, and reportedly complained of being overworked and underfed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to RFA.

“The six were on nighttime stakeout at the border on the night of the 2nd and did not show up after their scheduled return time in the early morning,” a military source from Hyesan told RFA’s Korean Service.

“A search team combed the entire border area looking for them. It was determined that the six had crossed the river with their weapons and escaped to China.”

“It’s caused quite the stir."

Workers attend a mass ceremony to inaugurate the start of construction on a building project in Pyongyang on March 24

Credit: KCNA /via REUTERS 

Life in North Korea’s military has become especially hard in recent months amid severe food shortages and a crackdown on smuggling following the closure of the border in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Usually, border guards are in collusion with professional smugglers and merchants and they live better than soldiers in other regions”, RFA quoted a source in the North Korean military as saying.

“But the coronavirus outbreak has been raging for more than a year, so smuggling has completely stopped and they are suffering from hunger these days”. 

There have been reports of soldiers shooting farmers’ livestock for their meals, while the government announced a campaign for the public to surrender spare clothing to get troops through the bitter winter months. 

“Life in the military in the North was already hard, with conscripts forced to serve between 10 and 12 years and effectively used as forced labourers on national construction projects”, said Daniel Pinkston, a professor of international relations at the Seoul campus of Troy University. 

Border security officers charged with enforcing discipline among the troops are in a “state of chaos” over the incident, according to a military source quoted by RFA.

The Chinese authorities have been informed of the defections and are understood to be searching for the armed men, while repercussions are unavoidable, the source said. 

“Their entire company will be disbanded and their commanders and anyone else [related to the incident] will have to take responsibility, so it will be a bit of a bloodbath around here for a while.”

The incident reflects a broader deterioration in the country’s situation. 

Last month, a man wearing a diving suit and flippers managed to slip across the heavily fortified crossing into South Korea, and in November, a North Korean gymnast vaulted over a three-metre-high security fence to escape the country.

“International sanctions were already hurting the North and that has just been made worse by the coronavirus and the decision to shut the border,” said Mr Pinkston. 

“There was already significant food insecurity and they are now about to go into their lean period, with last year’s stockpiled food running out long before the next harvest is ready”, he added.

“There are now clear signs of distress in the economy and society there.”