AsNorth Koreaapproaches one of its two annualmandatory enlistmentperiods for high school graduates, parents in the South Hamgyong province are pursuing shamdivorcesto exempt their sons. The move is being driven by fears that new recruits will be deployed toRussia, where North Korean soldiers have suffered heavy casualties.
“The career of high school graduates is basically determined by their family backgrounds. But parents who are worried their sons might be deployed overseas are looking for ways to avoid military service, such as through college admission,” a source in the east coast province said, who requested anonymity for security reasons. InNorth Korea, only three main groups are exempted from military service - university students, carriers of communicable diseases such as hepatitis andTBand people with physical disabilities. However, individuals whose parents are divorced can also be exempted because the regime assumes they did not receive a proper education in the “revolutionary family".
However, the sons of divorced parents must still perform military service as long as their high school homeroom teacher and the local branch of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League do not report any issues with their moral character or political loyalty. In reality, divorce in North Korea is the only way out of military service for families that lack the resources to send their children to university.
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As a result, a spate offake divorceshas surfaced among families whose sons are about to join the army.
“There was a couple in the Sapo district of Hamhung who abruptly got divorced last September. It was obvious their actual goal was to keep their son from entering the army,” the source toldDaily NK.
Previously, families sometimes submittedfalsified medical documentsto avoid military service, but that approach is no longer effective, as doctors began fearing they would be punished for faking documents.
"So since parents can’t fake a [disqualifying] disease, they’re getting divorced on paper to help their sons evade conscription,” the source said.
Concern about deployment toRussiais the main reason North Koreans are seeking exemptions from compulsory service, the source added: "Videos and photographs of soldiers killed in actionhave made parents more anxious [...] Parents often say that if their son is killed, it would be little comfort to get a comfortable house in Pyongyang, far from friends and loved ones. Because of fears that their sons will be sent off to die in a foreign war, many are resorting to any means available to avoid conscription".
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
