| Apparently the army life doesn't guarantee much social status in Nork-land anymore, and may not even provide three hots and a cot. |
As a result of a first-of-its-kind refusal to sign an army enrollment petition, students soon to graduate from a middle school in Hoiryeong, North Hamkyung Province have been ordered by the Party to work on collective farms for life. Furthermore, during this process the parents of some of the students protested after the children of government officials in Hoiryeong were granted exemptions from the same order.
| Turns out the students weren't immediately shot, which is progress in a way. |
The incident occurred at the Osanduk Middle School in early February. The Army Mobilization Department had urged graduating middle school students to sign the "People's Army (KPA) Enrollment Petition," stressing that "America and South Chosun puppets are taking provocative wartime measures."
An enrollment petition requests a signature agreeing to "voluntary enlistment in the KPA for the security of the fatherland." In the past, North Korean authorities forcefully carried out "voluntary" petition movements for youths between ages 17 and 35; however, since the reform of its military service law in 2003 the country has had compulsory military service. Thus, in practice the voluntary enrollment petition is a purely ceremonial expression of patriotism. |