North Korea’s Ministry of Defense has ordered a monthlong special inspection by military prosecutors after reports surfaced that soldiers deployed to rural construction sites are suffering severe malnutrition, with rear-service officials accused of stealing the food, clothing and medicine meant for the troops.
A source in South Pyongan province told Daily NK on Tuesday that, on orders from the Ministry of Defense, the Military Prosecutors’ Office launched a large scale special inspection on Aug. 14 targeting the rear-service departments, the logistics units responsible for supplies, of People’s Army units deployed to regional development construction sites in South Pyongan province. The inspection is set to run for one month.
According to the source, the Ministry of Defense noted in its directive that a significant number of soldiers in the units central to carrying out the regional development policy have been bedridden with severe malnutrition caused by inadequate supplies, and that deaths have also occurred from being pushed to work beyond their limits.
The ministry determined that the cause lies with rear-service officials, who are responsible for soldiers’ food, clothing and medicine, embezzling or diverting supplies for their own gain. It said it is mobilizing military prosecutors for a monthlong, sweeping inspection of every rear-service department attached to military units involved in the regional development construction.
“Behind the Ministry of Defense’s decision to target rear-service departments is a sense of crisis that if soldiers keep collapsing and dying of malnutrition on the front lines of the 20×10 regional development policy, one of Kim Jong Un’s signature projects, it would hurt military morale and leave a lasting stain on the leader’s own initiative,” the source said.
Indeed, when plainclothes and uniformed prosecutors from the Military Prosecutors’ Office descended on the units deployed to regional development construction in South Pyongan province in mid-August, rear-service officials reportedly grew extremely tense and kept a low profile, while ordinary soldiers watched closely to see whether even some of the corruption long rumored in the rear-service departments would come to light.
Early findings paint a grim picture
The inspection has already found that nearly all the soldiers deployed to the construction sites are in a weakened state, with roughly one in 10 bedridden with malnutrition so severe that they are little more than skin and bone. Investigators have also uncovered cases of soldiers dying while working without proper safety equipment.
“Soldiers deployed to construction are being pushed to work more than 15 hours a day and can’t even get enough corn rice to eat,” the source said, referring to a mixture of corn and rice that is a common staple among lower income North Koreans. “There’s even talk that rear-service officials secretly sold off pork, rice and other supplies sent from above at the market and gave soldiers only rotten cabbage and dried radish-green soup instead, so everyone is holding their breath to see how far the military prosecutors will dig.”
The source added that, depending on the results of this month of intensive inspection, the rear-service officials responsible for allowing the malnutrition and for misusing supplies for personal gain are expected to face severe punishment through military tribunals and be stripped of their posts.
However, some senior military officials who have heard about the inspection have reportedly voiced skepticism. “With the country as a whole short on supplies, punishing a few rear-service officials isn’t going to put meat soup on the soldiers’ trays,” one was quoted as saying, while another dismissed the crackdown as little more than shooting yourself in the foot.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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August 27, 2026 at 08:18PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)