North Korean soldiers from the 10th Corps in Ryanggang province are heading into the mountains to cut firewood for the 2026 winter. Much of the wood, however, is ending up in officers’ homes or being sold for cash, a local source said. The 10th Corps is the Korean People’s Army formation stationed in Ryanggang, a mountainous province on the Chinese border.
“Units under the 10th Corps in Hyesan are sending firewood teams to Samsu and Kapsan counties,” the source told Daily NK on Tuesday. “The aim is for units to secure their own fuel for heating and cooking over the winter.”
North Korean military units typically form firewood teams each fall and send them to collect fuel in forested areas. This year, units across the 10th Corps have been dispatching teams one after another as winter preparations begin.
“Every year, five or six soldiers from each company go to rural areas to gather firewood,” the source said. “The soldiers chosen for these teams are generally the ones that officers trust the most.”
The duties of these soldiers extend well beyond supplying the barracks, however. “They also deliver firewood to officers’ homes and sell some of the timber for cash,” the source explained. “Officers themselves are not properly provided for, so they struggle to support their own families.”
“That is why some officers demand firewood, cash or goods from soldiers as ‘assignments,’” the source added.
In effect, the firewood teams now help sustain officers’ households and generate cash, not just keep military units warm. The practice reflects the wider economic strain weighing on North Korea’s military and its officer corps.
North Korean soldiers’ firewood hunt spills into restricted forests
State-authorized logging zones cannot supply enough wood for both military units and officers’ families. As a result, some firewood team members have been venturing into forests where logging is not permitted.
North Korean authorities have stepped up crackdowns on illegal logging under Kim Jong Un’s reforestation campaign. The drive, launched in 2015, aims to restore mountains stripped bare by decades of fuel gathering and farming.
Stopping soldiers in the act has proven difficult for forestry officials on the ground, however. Forest supervisors who confront soldiers in restricted areas sometimes face fierce pushback or even physical threats. For that reason, some forest supervisors choose to look the other way when they come across logging soldiers.
With soldiers scrambling to supply both units and officers’ families, forest management rules are often ignored at the logging sites.
Soldiers on firewood teams lodge in private homes near the logging sites while they work. They fell trees, then saw and split the logs to fit a kitchen furnace before shipping them out.
The firewood goes to officers’ households as well as units, with each family reportedly receiving a full truckload. Team members also sell part of the timber to private merchants who come looking for wood. They use the proceeds to buy food for themselves and to meet officers’ demands for cash.
“Felling, sawing and splitting logs is by no means easy, but soldiers still want these spots,” the source said. “The work is hard, but it offers more freedom than barracks life and the food tends to be better.”
“Quite a few soldiers find life on a firewood team more comfortable in many ways,” the source added.
Not every soldier who wants a spot on a firewood team can get one, however. “The soldiers who get picked have mostly met officers’ demands for cash and goods,” the source said. “Many of them could only manage that with help from their parents back home.”
“Soldiers who fall short struggle to win officers’ favor and are unlikely to be chosen,” the source continued.
“Getting onto a firewood team takes a family with enough money to meet officers’ demands,” the source lamented. “In the military or in civilian society, people say you need money these days to live comfortably.”
About This Translation
This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
A Note to Readers
Reporting from inside North Korea
Daily NK operates networks of sources inside North Korea who document events in real-time and transmit information through secure channels. Unlike reporting based on state media, satellite imagery, or defector accounts from years past, our journalism comes directly from people currently living under the regime. We verify reports through multiple independent sources and cross-reference details before publication.
Our sources remain anonymous because contact with foreign media is treated as a capital offense in North Korea — discovery means imprisonment or execution. This network-based approach allows Daily NK to report on developments other outlets cannot access: market trends, policy implementation, public sentiment, and daily realities that never appear in official narratives.
Maintaining these secure communication channels and protecting source identities requires specialized protocols and constant vigilance. Daily NK serves as a bridge between North Koreans and the outside world, documenting what’s happening inside one of the world’s most closed societies.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
