Read a version of this story in Korean
North Korea has raised the maximum age for enlistment in the military from age 23 to 25, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia, a move they fear will result in more troops being sent to Russia to fight in its war with Ukraine.
Able-bodied men are currently required to serve 10 years in the 1.2 million-strong military after high school, from around age 18, while able-bodied women must serve seven years.
The new rule won’t any have effect on most citizens' mandatory military service, but it will make it harder for people who are exempted from service -- due to illness or inadequate height -- to defer military service until the cutoff age.
Up until the cutoff age, the exempt youth could be conscripted once if conditions change. They may recover from sickness, grow to the minimum height of 145 centimeters (4 feet 9 inches) or finish college.
If this happens before the cutoff age, then they have to sign up. But if they haven’t signed up before that point, they are exempt for the rest of their lives.
Many young people are able to avoid military service in this way, or by bribing the right officials to classify them as unfit.
But since the cutoff age is now 25, it means they’ll have to find ways to avoid conscription for two more years.
Discontent
Authorities raised the maximum enlistment age in July, a resident of the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for personal safety.
“Many residents are expressing discontent over the increase in the age of enlistment to 25,” he said, adding that people think it is all a bid to send more soldiers to Russia.
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According to U.S. intelligence, North Korea has sent around 11,000 troops to Russia, and South Korea’s military estimates that more than 1,100 have died in battle. Neither Pyongyang nor Moscow has outwardly confirmed North Korean involvement in the war, and North Korean state media has made no mention of it.
But, according to the resident, “There is no one who does not know.”
Protecting their own
Residents with enlistment age children who have been declared ineligible for recruitment at age 17, and who are past the previous cutoff age, are doing everything to help their children to be spared from enlistment and the backbreaking labor that awaits, the resident said.
“The parents are willing to do everything they can to prevent their children from enlisting in the military, even if it means selling their house and all of their possessions,” he said.
People can often buy their way out of enlistment if they bribe the right officials, but the amount it costs for such a favor has more of an impact on those without means. Those who take this route will now have to keep it up for two years longer.
“As it is now very difficult to make a living, there are not many families with more than one child,” he said. “Families are afraid that their children will be shipped off to Russia.”
After stories about deployment to Russia spread among the public, the military told concerned families that their sons were sent there to work on farms, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang, told RFA.
“Many were at a loss, believing that the country had sent their sons to fight in Russia’s war,” she said.
Many are anxious about the enlistment age increase, she said, adding that the additional years make it more likely that those who were exempt due to health or height reasons may now have to join.
“Residents are desperately refusing to enlist their children,” she said. “Once they send their children to the military, there is a great fear that their children will be sent to Russia and will not return alive.”
Residents understand that there is a duty for all to defend the country, but they think the war with Ukraine is outside of the scope of national defense, she said.
“It is so unfair and infuriating to have to die in Russia without knowing what our sons are fighting for,” she said. “This is the reason why there is extreme anger among residents against Kim Jong Un who sends soldiers to die on the battlefield.”
Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.