SEOUL, March 12 (Yonhap) -- Despite repeated war threats from Pyongyang, an increasing number of North Korean soldiers have gone AWOL from their front-line combat units in recent months, sources in Seoul said Tuesday, in a possible sign of rising discontent in the rank and file suffering from grueling winter training and food shortages.
"A recent analysis revealed the number of deserters in front-line military units has increased by seven to eight times compared to the same period of the previous year," a source said, asking for anonymity as he is not allowed to talk about military information. "Military and government officials are closely looking into the cause of the rise in desertions."
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Front-line troops are grappling with difficulties in hunting down runaway soldiers while carrying out extensive drills in response to South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, the source said.
