North Korean military fish farm run as private feeding trough for officers, worker complaint reveals

A military seafood production unit in North Hamgyong province is under investigation after a worker filed a formal complaint alleging that base commanders have been diverting fish and shellfish for personal gain rather than supplying military rations.

The Ninth Corps security department launched an inspection of the corps-run fishery station in Chongjin on March 15, a Daily NK source in North Hamgyong province reported Tuesday.

The investigation was triggered by a formal grievance filed simultaneously with both the corps political department and the security department by a worker at the station. The worker alleged that commanders were taking the bulk of production for themselves while rank-and-file employees received next to nothing. The grievance went further, alleging that station commanders were selling production outputs on the market and personally pocketing seafood that workers had submitted as contributions. The worker also claimed that only about 5% of the mussels produced at the station were actually being delivered to military units.

The worker filed with both departments out of concern that a single-office complaint would be quietly buried.

A system built for officers, not soldiers

The station formally falls under the rear services department, but the source said military officers also regularly tap personal connections to request a share of production. Supply to military units occurs at most once a year, the source said, and even that limited allocation rarely reaches ordinary soldiers. What little seafood does arrive goes almost exclusively to corps-level commands and the corps medical facility. Regular enlisted personnel go through their entire service without ever tasting seafood.

It is also common practice for workers who have a wedding, a 60th birthday celebration, or another family occasion to receive a small amount of fish for the table. The complaint appears to have been driven in part by resentment over the disparity between what commanders take and what ordinary workers are allowed.

The investigation has not generated sympathy for the complainant within the station. Reaction among colleagues and management has been largely negative, with the prevailing view that the worker stirred up unnecessary trouble, damaged reputations, and unsettled the atmosphere over something widely considered normal practice.

Those inside the corps do not expect the inspection to produce significant consequences. Because the review is being conducted internally, it is unlikely to result in leadership changes at the station. Those responsible are expected to escape with little more than a written self-criticism or a token disciplinary measure.

The source said the fishery station has long since stopped functioning as a facility to support soldiers’ diets and effectively exists to benefit officers. “That structure is not going to change easily,” the source added.

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