The North Korean Crisis, the Army Rebelled Until Cooking Oil Prices Soared

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

North Korea said to have experienced a crisis in recent months. Starting from the soaring price of goods to the rebellious army, making life for the people of the country even more difficult.

One of the triggers for this crisis is the closure of trade routes between China and North Korea since the pandemic hit. China is North Korea’s only international partner.

In addition, international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for its missile and nuclear activities make the country dependent on Beijing.

Disobedience of North Korean Military Soldiers

As a result of the economic crisis that befell North Korea, opposition within the military increased. In the last three months of 2021, there have been ten soldiers fighting their superiors, a military official in North Hamgyong told Radio Free Asia.

“In late November, a company-level officer from the 45th Division under the 9th Corps kept asking his battalion superior’s permission to resolve his own family and health issues, but when he was ignored, he fought his commander with a gun while drunk,” the source said. that last December 20.

This source also said that there were company-level officers who had personal problems and tried to ask their superiors for help. However, his senior ignored the company officer’s request and made him attempt suicide with a communication cable.

This military source assessed that the rise of disobedience in his institution was the impact of the worsening North Korean economy. On the other hand, there are other sources who think that this bad economy has caused hazing cases between soldiers to become more frequent.

“The beatings in the military have been getting worse in recent times, and the problem is very much related to the poor living conditions for soldiers as the government’s gifts to them are getting less and less,” said another source.