12 Shocking Facts About North Korean Soldiers

[Music] hey get ready for 12 unexpected facts about North Korea's military forces you've probably heard scary stories about the lives of the 25 million people in the reclusive and isolated nation of North Korea if things are so rough for ordinary people imagine how hard it must be for those serving in the military let's see what it's like to be a soldier in the North Korean army before we unveil this mystery of the east take this opportunity to subscribe to the bright side of life that little notification belt will also help you to always be informed of our latest updates [Music] all right counting down from number 12 north Korea has compulsory military service for everyone now when we say everyone we mean both men and women every man must serve his country for 10 years and every woman must serve for seven guys look enough to get into university and get a bachelor's degree are allowed to serve for five years after graduation science is important to the country only serve for 3 years unfortunately very few citizens get a university degree owing to a lack of schooling it's no surprise that North Korea has the largest army in the world in comparison to the number of people who live there there are 47 active soldiers for every 1000 people that's a total of 1 million 190,000 active soldiers and 6,300,000 in reserve just think about this for a moment the US has 5 active soldiers for every thousand people and Russia has 10 number eleven their paramilitary force includes teenagers now you think that their active Army would be large and powerful enough to protect the country from enemies however they also have a paramilitary force the worker-peasant Red Guards also known as the workers and peasants red militia has somewhere between 1.5 and six million reservists but they don't like to reveal the real numbers there are also teenage soldiers the red youth guards organization was created in 1970 and takes 15 to 17 year olds on compulsory survival military training for 10 to 15 days in the summer in this way they prepare for conscription at the age of 18 in case of war these guys are also likely to jump in with their weapons number 10 the nutrition is so terrible that many soldiers can barely walk many think that serving your country for 10 years when it wasn't your choice would be challenging enough just wait imagine you're going through hard military training on raw corn kernels or a few potatoes a day and even that isn't guaranteed before the potato harvest season so it's no surprise that 2 out of every 5 North Koreans are undernourished according to UN figures it might also explain the fact that many North Korean soldiers are a few inches shorter than soldiers in the South Korean army once they get too weak to be efficient in their training they are sent home to recharge at that point many of them are too weak to walk on Aidid unfortunately not everyone lives up to that point many soldiers pass away from hunger and related health conditions it is hard to imagine the sufferings of their families who know that their children might not come back from the army even in times of peace soldiers fighting for their lives often have to steal food by raiding farms and villages there have been reports showing that some senior officers even forced juniors to steal from farmers or work in the fields twice a year they also say they have to use human excrement instead of fertilizer during that work number nine the uniforms injure the soldiers wearing a uniform is pretty standard for any army normally it's a subject of pride in respect in North Korea it's also a source of pain and injuries according to former soldiers the boots they wear in cold winter months are thin and stuffed with cotton for reasons of economy they aren't sturdy enough to protect the soldiers from frostbite and start to fall apart quickly they rub hurt and injure the soldiers number eight things are even worse for female soldiers [Music] most people in today's world realize that women deserve to be treated the same way as men and given the same rights but that's not exactly the case in the North Korean army during their seven years of compulsory military service many women fall victim to sexual violence or humiliation the right place for them is considered to be the kitchen former soldiers told of how executive officers and commanders harassed female recruits touching them inappropriately it could be a touch on the hip or the neck that progresses to something even more inappropriate there are currently around 180,000 women serving as it only became compulsory three years ago this accounts for 40% of ladies aged between 18 and 25 because of the terrible conditions they live in the hard training and malnutrition Aletta them skip their periods for years however they say this might be for the best because they'd otherwise have to wash and reuse cotton pads and suffer even more now you might say things couldn't possibly get worse but hold on more scary facts are on the way to you number seven they have to throw landmines into the Yellow Sea according to reports Kim Jong on forced his army to throw landmines into the Yellow Sea which would resurfaced in South Korea and kill locals and tourists the reports say that the primary target of those landmines was American tourists and there were over 100 reported incidents connected with those landmines in 2017 foreign tourists obviously can't read the warning signs and Korean characters and they fall into danger zones quite easily even though not all of the soldiers agree with a command leading to so much cruelty they have no choice and no right to refuse to do it or complain [Music] number six soldiers are brainwashed [Music] one might hope that no human being would support violence against other humans even if they came from a different country or political regime well even if some North Korean soldiers refused to support violence their army commanders are working to change that they spend about 60% of their time learning the right ideology right as in North Korea is superior to other countries and all those other countries want to attack them so they always have to be on guard obey Kim jong-un no matter what and be ready to give their lives for him they are supposedly doing it for the next generations to have the same happy life they're living now brainwashing isn't so hard in an isolated country number 5 the military hospitals are dangerous brainwash soldiers believe it's an honor to get injured and die in the name of their leader so what happens to the soldiers that get hurt they are sent to a special military treatment center however those centers have no free medications when interviewed former soldiers described how they had to pay for their treatment and even when they did all they got was alcohol rubbed on them that obviously didn't help much and causes even more pain when treatment doesn't help they are kicked out of the Army in case of death there's no compensation for the family all they get is a certificate stating how long the soldier served number four soldiers personalities change [Music] getting back home out of the army alive and physically uninjured sounds like a dream after all we've learned still there's a different kind of danger to the soldiers their personalities often shift so briefly that there's nothing that can bring things back to normal soldiers have to be merciless and suppress their feelings and emotions years of violence cannot go unnoticed and they turn those men and women into cruel machines it's no surprise that many civilians prefer to avoid any contact with the military number three there's no way to escape the most natural thing to do to avoid all the suffering pain and cruelty seems to be escaping the army there have been multiple attempts to do so and they don't end well Kim jong-un doesn't approve of defection especially when soldiers try to flee the country running away abroad often seems like the only route to safety the North Korean leader believes it's bad for the country's reputation so those trying to cross the Tumen River are mostly taken down plus military seniors who didn't stop the recruits from escaping or failed to inform about their plot get punished too that's why very few people are bold enough to try to escape finally two facts must be mentioned as they concern us all number two North Korea has the same number of submarines as the US this one sounds pretty alarming given the size and military forces of the two countries the US has around 72 submarines and North Korea has somewhere between 70 and 75 now we must clarify that they aren't quite the same submarines the North Korean subs mostly come from the Soviet era even the famous Kim Jong Un's personal nuclear sub is said to be a Yugoslavian model from the 70s number one they spend almost half of their budget on the army this information is not in open sources but a lot of people are wondering how much money North Korea spends on its military official government reports say fifteen point eight percent but many experts agree it must be at least thirty eight percent just think of it basically half of the country's budget is spent on its army and that clearly speaks to its priorities so which of these facts surprised or disappointed you the most tell us in the comments below don't forget to give us a like and click subscribe to stay on the bright side of life I dove lie [Music]

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

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Keywords: North Korea facts, videos about North Korea, North Korea army, soldiers life, life in North Korea, terrible facts, scary things, things you’ve never seen, female soldiers, females in the army, North Korean soldiers, bright side video, brightside, bright side

Id: op7N3MGhUtk

Length: 12min 10sec (730 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 02 2018