Storm Corps pilfer government storage facilities
A source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Friday that with the Storm Corps deployed to the border for such a long time, the unit was growing “ideologically complacent and lax” and poor food supplies were causing “further problems.”
“They’re not connected to Chinese traders like the border guard, so they rob people,” he said. “And now they’re even robbing the logistics facilities of state agencies.”
The source said the Storm Corps receives food, but the quality of the food has gradually worsened the longer it stays at the border. “If the relationship between the troops and civilians was good, they could get help from locals,” he said. “But even this relationship has been greatly damaged. And they don’t have side jobs, so if food supplies are lacking, they have to make due on their own. Being unable to do anything else, they’ve ultimately turned to robbing state institutions.”
According to the source, three soldiers from the Storm Corps broke into the local branch of the Ministry of State Security in Hoeryong to rob its warehouse earlier this month. However, they were reportedly caught at the scene after being discovered by staff on patrol and ultimately discharged from the military.
Moreover, their battalion commander, political guidance officer and security guidance officer were relieved, and their battalion was withdrawn by the middle of the month and replaced by another, said the source.
The source said the incident was mentioned in lecture materials from the Central Military Commission distributed on Aug. 15. Condemning the robbing of state institutions as a “serious” crime, the Central Committee used the incident to raise the alarm against “irregular” phenomena emerging in border regions. ......
[Source: Daily NK]
