WorldTribune, May 10, 2021
Geostrategy-Direct
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has reportedly issued guidelines in which he is “dedicating the year 2021 to reducing desertions” in the military.
A source told the Daily NK in an April 29 report that the desertions are occurring most frequently in the First Corps and the Fifth Corps, which are near the North’s “frontline.”
With Kim’s goal of reducing desertions to zero, authorities plan to use desertions as a measure of how well the ruling party is in control over each unit, the report said.
Kim has ordered the commander-in-chief of the North Korean armed forces to “comprehensively analyze desertions by unit” and put in place a plan to construct a “regular daily report system over the course of a year,” a source told the Daily NK.
By essentially saying authorities would conduct an evaluation of each military unit, this was seen as a call to conduct a major search operation to find deserters.
North Korean law enforcement agencies have reported that most soldiers arrested from January to March were either absent without leave (AWOL) or had deserted their posts.
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