Panic in North Korea as couples ‘divorce’ to stop children being sent to fight for Putin

North Korean parents are pursuing fake divorces to exempt their sons from mandatory military service (Image: Getty)

As North Korea approaches one of its two annual mandatory enlistment periods for high school graduates, parents in the South Hamgyong province are pursuing sham divorces to exempt their sons. The move is being driven by fears that new recruits will be deployed to Russia, where North Korean soldiers have suffered heavy casualties.

“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 east coast province said, who requested anonymity for security reasons. In North Korea, only three main groups are exempted from military service - university students, carriers of communicable diseases such as hepatitis and TB and people with physical disabilities. However, individuals whose parents are divorced can also be exempted because the regime assumes they did not receive a proper education in the “revolutionary family".

Families were submitting falsified medical documents to avoid military service but doctors now fear punishment (Image: Getty)

“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 told Daily NK.

Previously, families sometimes submitted falsified medical documents to avoid military service, but that approach is no longer effective, as doctors began fearing they would be punished for faking documents.

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Videos and photos of soldiers killed in action in Russia is a key reason why North Koreans are seeking exemptions (Image: Getty)

Concern about deployment to Russia is the main reason North Koreans are seeking exemptions from compulsory service, the source added: "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".