North Korean authorities are inspecting civil defense units’ weapon depots across the country after a unit leader was found to have used stored weapons to hunt for wild boar, sources in the country told Radio Free Asia.
Although the hunting incident last month is not without precedent, officials were treating the unauthorized use of weapons and ammunition as a potential threat to national security and the North Korean leadership, according to a party official in North Pyongan province who insisted on anonymity for safety reasons.
“In February, an incident occurred in a certain region where a wild boar was caught with weapons stored in a (civil defense) armory,” the official said. “This issue was raised centrally, and inspections of civil defense armories across the country are underway.”
The investigation is being carried out “not just because the corps leader caught a wild boar with a training weapon and a gun,” he said. “Here, weapons are the most sensitive issue for the stability of the top leadership and the state system.”
Many North Koreans are underfed and desperate for food, particularly during the winter. The U.N. World Food Programme says that agriculture regularly falls short of meeting the people’s food needs due to the shortage of arable land and the lack fo access to fertilizers and modern agricultural equipment.
In North Korea, civil defense forces are paramilitary units that defend cities and towns. Most members are reservists who served in the military, which is mandatory for all able-bodied men and women. Their armories store weapons for training purposes.
The initial results of the investigation were “more serious than expected,” with “a significant amount of weapons and bullets” missing from the civil defense unit in question," the source said.
A second source, from Yanggang province, confirmed the incident, saying investigations into civil defense corps are underway nationwide, and stressing that it was considered a “key issue directly related to the stability of the top leadership and national security.”
“Problems arose in the armory where the Red Guards, comprised of workers and peasants, and the Red Youth Guards, comprised of 15-year-old students, were provided with ammunition and weapons for training,” the person said.
It wasn’t clear whether the corps leader caught using the weapon was punished, although the second source said it was likely to be severe.
But the person was puzzled because similar incidents in the past were relatively common.
“In the past,” the source said, “there were frequent issues with bullet loss and management in the civil defense corps’ armory, and it was common for civil defense corps officers to hunt deer and wild boars with training weapons, bullets, and bayonets.”
Edited by Malcolm Foster.