Kathrine Frich
North Korea has reportedly sent troops to support Russia’s war effort.
Reports of casualties among those deployed have filtered back home, fuelling anxiety in a tightly controlled society where military service is mandatory for young men.
Now, as a new enlistment period approaches, some families are said to be taking extraordinary steps to prevent their sons from being drafted and potentially dispatched abroad.
Sham divorces surge
According to reporting by Daily NK, parents in South Hamgyong province are filing for formal divorces on paper ahead of one of the country’s twice-yearly military call-ups.
North Korea typically drafts high school graduates in April and September.
This year families fear that new recruits could be sent to Russia, where North Korean soldiers are believed to have suffered heavy losses.
“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 province told Daily NK, speaking anonymously for security reasons.
Under North Korean rules, university students, people with certain communicable diseases and those with physical disabilities can be exempted.
Children of divorced parents may also avoid service, as authorities sometimes consider them not to have been raised in a proper “revolutionary family.”
Fear of deployment
Although sons of divorced parents can still be drafted if deemed politically reliable, divorce is seen as one of the few available options for families without money or influence.
“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 said.
Attempts to use falsified medical certificates have reportedly declined, as doctors fear punishment for issuing fake diagnoses.
“So since parents can’t fake a [disqualifying] disease, they’re getting divorced on paper to help their sons evade conscription,” the source added.
Unequal system
Concern over possible deployment to Russia is said to be the main reason behind the rise in sham divorces.
“Videos and photographs of soldiers killed in action have 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,” the source said.
Families with wealth or political connections are often able to secure university placements or safer military roles for their children. Poorer households have far fewer options.
For some, ending a marriage on paper has become a desperate attempt to keep their sons from a distant battlefield.
Sources: Daily NK, Express.
