The Horrible Things North Korean Soldiers Have To Go Through

life in North Korea is difficult enough as it is without all of the horrors that come with being in the military it's terrible living conditions and controlling government are enough to break down even the hardest of North Korean citizens make sure to stay tuned until the end to hear about what happens to the soldiers who tried to defect from this country before we take you on a journey into the life of a North Korean soldier make sure to LIKE this video subscribe to the richest and join our notification squad now let's get into the horrible things North Korean soldiers have to go through we all know that living conditions are terrible in North Korea but they can be even worse for those in the military and it's not because there aren't enough resources to go around but simply because leader Kim jong-un isn't prepared to devote them to his soldiers North Korea claims to have one of the world's biggest ground armies with around 1 million active members and up to 6 million soldiers in reserve while many countries allow their citizens to choose whether they'd like to serve in the army or not that same choice isn't given to North Koreans every North Korean has to join the army at some point in their life unless there's a very good reason why they can't as soon as they turn into an adult they're conscripted into the Army in total there's thought to be up to seven point seven million trained soldiers across the whole country on the surface this makes North Korea a very dangerous country to attack with so many soldiers ready to fight you'd think that the rest of the world would stay away purely due to the vast number of soldiers that they have in reserve but conditions for North Korean soldiers are so poor that the bad health of its military has a negative effect against its imposing size North Korean soldiers serve their state for varying periods of time women must serve for around seven years while men serve for 10 North Korean teenagers who get into university are allowed to study before being conscripted upon graduation but unsurprisingly most citizens don't continue on to higher education due to a lack of schooling during their youth this causes them to take up a place in the army early on but if a student can make it to University it can help them when it comes to serving in the army scientists only need to serve for three years and those with a bachelor's degree only have to stay for five throughout their time as a soldier North Koreans are allowed home leave every so often but this isn't a chance for them to catch up with their family it's a time for them to recover and hopefully regain some strength soldiers in the military are given an incredibly poor diet of only a few potatoes a day and the summer before the potato harvest happens this pitiful amount isn't always guaranteed extreme hunger is a common feeling for soldiers outside of the capital city of Pyongyang if they're not eating potatoes they're fed raw corn kernels of corn race their nutrition is so bad that North Korean soldiers are often a few inches shorter than their southern counterparts thanks to their restricted diet after dealing with strict workout routines and long days of physical labor home leave is a chance for soldiers to earn some well-needed rest they're often too weak to walk unaided and require family members to wait on them hand and foot until they're fit again and once they're able to walk and are looking slightly healthier they're carted back off to the army but not all of the soldiers even make it that far some of them are so weak that they pass away before being returned to their families this leaves mothers and fathers waiting anxiously for their children to return knowing full well that they might never see them again it's a never-ending cycle of pain for these soldiers and their families some troops and more specialized areas are given more food to help them get through the day but this is rare and it still doesn't provide them with all the nutrients that they need and what do you do when you're so desperate for food that you realize you could pass away at any moment many soldiers resort to stealing to try and improve their meager rations before they get too weak to survive the military police are aware of this and often send out members to hunt down starving comrades who are looking for food they can steal it's also been reported that some senior officers in the Army will send out juniors to steal from farmers and citizens if they fail to find supplements the soldiers can be punished making the whole situation even crueler going home for a while is also a chance for soldiers to wear their own clothes again sure wearing a uniform might be a standard for many workers around the world but these soldiers are forced to wear shoddily created outfits that can cause them pain during the cold winters soldiers are given thick boots to stop them from getting frostbite but because Kim jong-un isn't prepared to pay for top-quality the boots are often thin and stuffed with cotton which starts to come undone after a few wears this means that the boots rub and cause injuries every single time that they're worn aside from starvation and being injured by their own clothing life for female North Korean soldiers comes with its own challenges women in the state are often faced with unwanted advances they are harassed by male soldiers who just won't leave them alone executive officers and commanders often go up to women to adorn them which means to touch them inappropriately it sometimes starts with the touch of their hip or neck before developing into something more severe sadly these women have no one to complain to if they speak up there are chances that the adoration will get worse leaving these women in an incredibly dangerous position there are around 180,000 women in the North Korean military and many of them lose their period due to the malnutrition that they face in their seven years of service however they often consider this a good thing because menstruating while suffering from starvation would make things even more difficult for them but this also makes it easier for commanders to cover their tracks when they want to have their way with female soldiers one female soldier who escaped revealed that there was a commander who would stay in his room after hours and calls certain women to come see him they were never able to refuse even though they knew full well what would happen in that room and once North Korean soldiers have come to grips with their living conditions they're expected to start learning the tricks of the trade straight away some of it is standard military practice learning how to handle weapons reacting to an emergency and obeying their leader but some of the things they're forced to do are far scarier and require these soldiers to ignore their gut feelings and just get on with it in 2017 it was reported that Kim jong-un was forcing North Korean soldiers to throw landmines into the Yellow Sea the landmines would wash up on the Dong Mak beach in South Korea where they would then explode and fatally injured tourists and local residents officials say that the bombs were aimed to hurt American tourists and 110 incidents were reported back in 2017 it's a cruel practice especially since American and British tourists can't understand the North Korean signs that explain the dangers of the area as the landmines lurk only inches away these tourists can find themselves in a lot of pain in only a matter of minutes the worst part is that the North Korean soldiers are fully aware of where and why these landmines are getting thrown into the sea but they're not allowed to complain or refuse however many soldiers are brainwashed into thinking that they're throwing bombs for the good of their country about 60% of their time is spent learning the Kim il-sung ggest Kim Jong ilist ideology which supports the idea that North Korea is superior to every other country around soldiers are trained to permanently be on guard because they're told that North Korea is always under attack the military is also taught to obey Kim jong-un and to protect him at any cost they're trained to be prepared to give their lives for their leader to ensure that the next generation will be able to live the same luxurious life that they think they're living now because North Korea is such an isolated country brainwashing soldiers isn't that difficult it's only when soldiers successfully leave the country which comes with its own dangerous risks that they realized just how brainwashed they are even when soldiers find themselves seriously injured they're prepared to overlook it for the good of the country injuries are a common part of military life and each corpse has its own Hospital on the surface it sounds like a way to help out these poor soldiers sadly there's a catch each regiment has a facility called a military treatment center but there's no medicine there and if medicine is genuinely required the soldiers get charged for it the medicine that they receive is usually rubbing alcohol which means that many soldiers continue to suffer despite paying money to try to get themselves back to a healthy state but if a soldier becomes so ill that they're forced to leave the military or if they pass away there's no sympathy for the family no compensation is given and all that the family receives as a memory of their loved one is a certificate detailing how long they served for but making it out alive isn't necessarily the best angle to have those who do not come out of military service in one piece often find that their personalities have shifted beyond repair life in the army teaches soldiers to be tough and to ignore any feelings so that they are often violent afterwards there are a lot of complaints about soldiers from local residents and some people even pick up their bags and leave if they see when approaching these soldiers after suffering years of abuse in the Army often come back to civilization with little hope of continuing to live life like they did before by now you might be wondering why these soldiers don't just leave the army to try and find a better life elsewhere some of them try but it's very dangerous to do that defection is a crime in North Korea and it's one that isn't committed lightly it's common for soldiers to be taken down if they try to leave for South Korea if they're lucky they're thrown into jail instead or they'll spend the rest of their days in squalid starving conditions Kim jong-un finds it very embarrassing when any of his troops try to escape because it gives us country a bad reputation so when they try to cross the border via the Tumen River they are often met by border guards who aren't afraid to take fire if they see a defector and if there's even the smallest inkling that a senior leader knows of a soldier's plan to leave the state it's likely that the leader will be punished too it seems that the threats associated to defecting have been enough to stop North Korean soldiers from escaping as numbers have dropped over the past years but the numbers are still incredibly high since 1953 between 100,000 and 300,000 North Koreans have defected to Russia or China its to see that life is a North Korean soldier has many challenges and only the strongest are able to survive that's all for the horrible things North Korean soldiers have to go through do you think that you'd survive life in the North Korean military let us know your thoughts in the comments below thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe

Channel: TheRichest

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Keywords: soldiers, horrible, Kim jong un, North Korea, military, Kim Jong-un, brainwashed, defector, country, South Korea, 0518, korea, donald trump, USA, troops, labour, living conditions, punishment, army, leader, president, americans, starvation, starving

Id: fjlwChLnaGI

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Sun May 27 2018