North Korean Troops Are Starving and Have to Steal or Die, Says Defector

A recent defector from North Korea spoke to the press for the first time on food shortages and how the people view leader Kim Jong-un

A North Korea soldier stands guard on the banks of the Yalu River which separates the North Korean town of Sinuiju from the Chinese border town of Dandong on Dec. 17, 2013. On Dec. 27, 2014 a North Korean soldier crossed the border into China and killed four Chinese villagers, apparently while seeking food. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

A defector from North Korea has admitted that soldiers, including the country’s special forces, are currently hard-hit by food shortages like the rest of the country’s population.

The defector, who used the pseudonym Kim Gil-su, was a career military officer in his 40’s. He escaped through China last year and just gave his first interview, to the Washington Free Beacon.

He said there appears to be rampant starvation in the military, but he stipulated that military officers are treated much better than low-ranking soldiers. The lower-ranking soldiers get meals consisting of “corn rice,” which is ground corn made to look like rice, he said.

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