Currently, the North Korean military is assembling arms, equipment and personnel near Wonsan for military exercises in response to joint ROK-U.S. ‘Key Resolve’ exercises going on in South Korea; however, Daily NK has learned that a serious lack of prior training time is causing accidents both large and small.
A source from North Korean Gangwon Province told Daily NK on the 13th, “Inexperienced drivers mean that artillery pieces heading for the exercise area keep getting into accidents and there have been a number of casualties. In some places these artillery, plus tanks and also armored cars, have rolled into roadside ditches or paddy fields.”
“They say that a we are maintaining a state of combat readiness, but in truth there has been hardly any driver training for years,” the source went on. “The necessary fuel was not provided, so in most cases the drivers couldn’t train.”
In addition, “Tanks, armored cars and artillery have been left neglected in air-raid shelters and tunnels over many years to preserve their tires and the overall life of the vehicle, to the extent that some soldiers never drive once during their time in the military,” he said. “They get called ‘cripples’ for having less skill than a man with a cow and cart. They only receive theoretical training, which makes them incapable of doing their work in reality.”
The source explained one particular case, saying that at the end of February female soldiers operating six vehicles carrying artillery near Macheon Ridge in South Hamkyung Province could not get them over the ridge, so passing freight lorry drivers helped them do it instead.
“Vehicles supplying the rear run on substitute fuel (charcoal) so there was smoke everywhere, it was like someone had let off smoke bombs,” he said. “Also, old tires cannot be replaced, so they get filled with rice straw instead of air and the vehicles don’t function properly.” Early in the 2000s, an order was handed down calling for the use of rice straw in tires.
The popular reaction to the stark reality of the military-first policy at ground level is bemusement, the source said, pointing out “How are we supposed to go to war like that? I don’t know about attacking; just running away would be hard enough. We’d be better off mobilizing cow carts.”
The South Korean authorities have noted that the scale of the North Korean exercises is unusual, and say that they think Kim Jong Eun may attend them at some stage.
