Armed military teams have been dispatched to farms in North Hwanghae province, including Changchon Farm in Hwangju county, to secure rice for army stores as the harvest begins. Soldiers from the August 15 Training Center are guarding threshing floors and grain crops with loaded weapons. The presence of armed soldiers has created an oppressive atmosphere and made local farmers feel threatened.
According to a source in the province recently, soldiers have always been deployed to farms during the fall harvest to keep an eye on things and ensure that no grain is lost. This year, however, the soldiers have stepped up their surveillance, the source said, with members of the armed forces taking a direct part in the threshing – a departure from previous years.
They are keeping a close eye to ensure that none of the crop is stolen – not only have they set up permanent guards on the threshing floor, but they have also set up mobile surveillance checkpoints on all the main roads leading to the farm. They have also deployed additional law enforcement units to guard the rice.
“The soldiers at the Changchon farm are making a big deal about better requisitioning rice for the army – even if it is just one more grain – on orders from above,” the source said. “They are keeping a close watch so that even a small crop doesn’t disappear somewhere.”
The army’s rice requisition team from the August 15 Training Center plans to remain on the farm until the end of November, with a second team to arrive in December.
Farmers express frustration
With the requisition teams expected to meticulously collect their share of the crop through the end of the year, farm officials and farmers themselves have expressed frustration and dissatisfaction, the source said.
According to the source, farm officials and peasants complain that the soldiers’ behavior is “even harsher than when landlords and overseers collected farm rents from sharecroppers in the old days.
Farm officials, in particular, say bitterly that they need at least a little rice to pay off this year’s debts and prepare for next spring’s planting, and they are furious at the sight of wild-eyed soldiers carrying weapons loaded with live ammunition who are out to take the entire harvest.
Meanwhile, the peasants lament that they will have little to eat in the winter after working hard in the fields this year.
Farmers used to smuggle small amounts of rice home in their waistbands after work. This year, things are different. Soldiers watch the threshing closely, and checkpoints – both fixed and roving – carry out thorough searches. The farmers are frustrated they can’t sneak any grain for themselves anymore.
The army’s requisition team is making matters worse. They constantly repeat that “the army’s rice quota comes first” while keeping everyone under strict watch. Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere on the farm has turned gloomy, the source said.
The Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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October 17, 2024 at 12:30PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)