North Korean army paralyzed by China's oil embargo

The North Korean military is suffering from a severe fuel shortage due to a five-month Chinese oil embargo, Chosun Ilbo reported.

"Many military units are without vehicles during exercises and even regimental commanders cannot use cars," a source said. "Petrol reserves are almost depleted and they are desperately looking for supplies."

There are rumors that regimental commanders have started riding bicycles and drivers are required to do household chores for the commanders, the source said.

Many North Korean fishing boats are forced to stay ashore even though the fishing industry is a pet project of leader Kim Jong Un and is given priority for fuel.

Senior commanders who used the money from siphoning off gasoline to sell on the black market now have nothing to sell. A senior officer in China recently asked staff from a South Korean NGO to buy gasoline for him.

The last time the North Korean military received a large amount of fuel was in March last year, when North Korea conducted a major military exercise. At that time, top military commanders opened up their reserves and provided large amounts of fuel and food for the exercise – the first since Kim Jong Un became supreme commander.

Due to the exercise, the number of air force sorties reached more than 600 last year, more than the previous year. However, military exercises have decreased compared to 2012 as fuel shortages have become more acute.

China shipped no crude oil to North Korea from January to May, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency in Beijing said.

According to Vietnam.net