North Korean citizens ordered to provide cloths for soldiers to wrap their feet

North Koreans have been ordered to donate strips of cloth so that soldiers can wrap them around their feet to keep them warm, suggesting the government is not adequately supplying the “invincible” Korean People’s Army, residents told Radio Free Asia.

Though most modern militaries supply their soldiers with socks, North Korean soldiers have never officially been issued socks. Instead, they have wrapped their feet in 30x30-centimeter squares (about 1-square-foot) of cloth, a technique that had been used by the Soviet Army, which the Russian Army did not phase out completely until 2013.

North Korean propaganda lionizes the military, calling it an “all-out, all-powerful, invincible revolutionary force,” but the cash-strapped government is apparently not able to provide enough cloth for the wraps.

“We can clearly see the reality of the ‘invincible’ army,” a resident of the central northern province of Ryanggang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Asking the people to donate supplies to the military is nothing new. 

In previous years, the people have been asked to donate food, underwear, winter boots and gloves. Last year they even asked people to make rifle straps by hand. But asking for foot wraps was a first, the resident said.

“The support item we need to raise this time is, absurdly, the foot wraps worn by the troops.”

Each neighborhood watch unit issued instructions from the Ministry of Defense for each home to offer a single piece of white cotton cloth measuring 30 square centimeters.

“Some residents are protesting, saying, ‘There are no scrap cloths to cover the torn clothes for us, where will we get the foot wrap for the military?” she said.

It is common to see emaciated soldiers on the streets of her town, with their thin necks and bulging bellies, she said, adding that it is a stark contrast to the scenes of mighty soldiers training for war that are shown on state TV every day. 

Some of the residents are worried that they don’t have any cloth to donate, so they will have to tear down their bedsheets and pillowcases, a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, told RFA on condition of anonymity for personal safety.

“Fortunately, they are not asking for new cloth,” he said. “At the same time, even if the foot coverings were defined as white cotton cloth, the cloth offered by each household would be various colors.”

The idea of soldiers wearing foot wraps of different colors made some of the residents laugh, he said.

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.