Changing loyalties in the North Korean military
Ideological education emphasizes sacrifice for the Leader and the Motherland. (Astrelok / Courtesy of Shutterstock)
Ideological education emphasizes sacrifice for the Leader and the Motherland. (Astrelok / Courtesy of Shutterstock)
What is the meaning and purpose of the armed forces? In most countries, the military exists to protect the nation’s interest and, in times of crisis, to defend the lives and homes of its people.
North Korea’s original purpose in building up its military was not much different. Around 1950, the population was largely rural. Land was directly tied to survival.
The government stirred the desperation of farmers with slogans. “Not an inch of land to the enemy.” “Defend every inch of our homeland with your life.”
As society stabilized, the military’s mission shifted slightly to guarding the cradles of the children playing under the blue sky.
But from the 2000s, there was a sharp redirection. The mission became to protect the suryong – the Leader, the Kim family. In a twisted three-step logic, the raison d’etre of the armed forces was ultimately reduced to protecting the Kims. Theories emerged asserting that the Party is the suryong, and the state is also the suryong, and that with the suryong and the gun, the nation and its people could be rebuilt from nothing.
Frankly, the suryong (meaning the Kim family) is not some sort of queen bee, so how he could “recreate millions of citizens” is beyond comprehension. Yet there are songs saying just that. “If you exist, we exist. If you do not, we do not.” “A world without you cannot exist.”
Such lyrics sanctified the Leader’s existence and characterized his protection as a sacred duty.
North Korea still promotes slogans like ‘Defending the Fatherland is the sacred duty of the people’ and ‘Peace rests on our guns.’
A person I know once questioned how this was any different from fascism.
So let’s talk about what North Koreans originally thought of the military. What was the reason that young people enlisted? They did so to protect their own land and their own families.
In 1946, the new state carried out land reform, taking land from landlords without compensation and redistributing it to farmers for free. Until 1958 when the government assumed ownership of the land, farmers saw their plots not as state property but as their own. Thus, enlisting in the military aligned with their personal interests.
There was also the societal atmosphere. In a community-oriented society like North Korea’s, people were heavily influenced by collective sentiment. Society conditioned them to believe that only those who had served in the military were “real men.”
More practically, only those who completed their military service and joined the Workers’ Party could become state officials. Military service then became tied to promotion. It was the sole route to success.
Thus, when their sons left for the army, mothers would see them off saying things like, “Come back a hero,” or “Obey your commander,” placing their hopes ten years into the future.
But now, things are beginning to change. Today, parents say, “If you’re hungry, steal something and eat,” or “Your father doesn’t need a hero’s medal, just come back alive.”
These softer farewells reflect a shift. North Koreans are becoming more honest with their emotions and are beginning to understand the worsening military supply conditions and the disappearance of equal opportunities for promotion.
During times of state expansion, anyone who served faithfully could become a bureaucrat and rise above the masses. But now, state institutions have reached a saturation point. Only the chosen can become officials and ordinary people are completely barred from ever grasping even the fringes of power. Society’s formula for success no longer works.
Those born in coal mining communities or rural villages have to inherit their parents’ occupations, regardless of their own dreams and hopes. Even though their parents have suffered more than anyone else in the harshest of places, they are not rewarded.
The government, under the pretext of “revolutionizing” those who have committed “crimes” against the state, sent them to the mines and countryside. In such cases, the children of miners and farmers often endured difficult times, wondering what wrong they have done to be condemned to lifelong “revolutionization.”
A community can only be well-maintained when every member of the group silently fulfills his duty in his respective role. The reason people carry out their duties is because of the hope that equal opportunities and a better life are possible.
But what happens if, after working hard to build a society where everyone is supposed to be the master, they come to realize that they are not the masters, but slaves?
When things get to this point, the society can no longer expect the sacrifice and dedication of its members, and the community cannot be sustained.
That is why, today, North Korea is showing early signs of breakdown. The military stresses sacrifice for the Leader and the Motherland through ideological education programs. The problem is that this ideological message is steadily losing its value and no longer aligns with the worldview of the people.
People use the word seokgi to mock discharged soldiers who have completed their service.
This term derives from the Paleolithic and Neolithic stone tools of early human history, implying that the minds of such people are as hard and outdated as stone. Use of this specific term in society to belittle soldiers is indicative of a rapid change in the mindset of young men serving in the military.
My cousin, who has military experience, recently told me that the hardest part of his service wasn’t hunger or cold, but the abuse inflicted by older soldiers on the new recruits. But, despite endless beatings, he never once considered desertion. He said he genuinely couldn’t even imagine it.
But these days, new recruits desert without hesitation if even the slightest thing displeases them. And yet, they can’t be scolded or punished for it, because the moment that happens, they desert again. He concluded his story by saying, “Today’s youth are just too different. Too different.”
How long will the North Korean military remain an army that exists solely for Kim Jong-un? If soldiers come to realize that their sacrifice is a fraudulent contract with no reward, they will no longer show loyalty.
Moreover, no parent wants to see their child dragged into a senseless war like the one between Ukraine and Russia. Fresh-faced soldiers, just out of high school, are having their lives ended in vain as cannon fodder and drone targets.
I saw the true face of the North Korean regime, one that trades its people’s lives for a few dollars without hesitation.
As someone who once lived as a North Korean citizen, that truth was deeply saddening, and I couldn’t help but applaud my own courage for escaping such a place.
The dispatch of soldiers to Russia is Kim Jong-un’s way of turning what little loyalty remains among the population into cash. He is like a delinquent with no remaining credit taking out a cash advance on his last credit card. But there is no card that can be drawn on forever.
Born in Chongjin in 1990, Jang Mi was not a studious child, but under her mother’s influence, she graduated from high school and went on to university to take math and science. She worked as a wedding video editor for seven years until her defection in 2019.
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