The North Korean Army is reduced to pilfering leftover textiles from factories in the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex and selling them to China, Radio Free Asia reported Thursday.

The industrial park was shut down last month after North Korea closed the border amid rising tensions.

RFA quoted a North Korean source in the Chinese border city of Dandong as saying the North Korean Army is clandestinely exporting tons of leftover textiles from garment factories in the industrial park.

The underfed, underpaid North Korean Army is desperate for valuta due to tightened international sanctions in the wake of the North's latest nuclear test. Soldiers have also reportedly started abducting Chinese fishing boats for ransom.

A trading company run by the Army is reportedly in charge of smuggling textile off-cuts out of the industrial park and selling them to Chinese rag businesses that recycle them into padding for sofa cushions and mattresses or oilcloth for car repair shops.

Of the 123 South Korean firms in the industrial park, 72 are textile and leather companies. They produced tons of off-cuts per day when they were operating.

A South Korean government official said, "North Korean soldiers and traders under the aegis of the military have always made money by collecting leftover pieces of fabric and faulty products from the industrial park."

A North Korean soldier at a guard post near the industrial park, who defected to South Korea on Oct. 6 last year after killing two of his superiors, was also reportedly involved in smuggling off-cuts.

The clandestine trade has raised fears that the North will soon move on to pilfering raw materials, finished products and production machinery if the industrial park lies fallow for much longer.

"We don't much care if they sell the leftovers," a South Korean government official said, "but it's a different story if they try to break the seals on factory doors and take the raw materials and finished products of South Korean manufacturers."

