North Korea has mobilized residents and school children to pick wild greens for soldiers to make up for the country's food shortage, the U.S.-based Radio Free Asia reported Monday. A North Korean source told the RFA that the impoverished country has brought in middle and high school students this year to gather wild edible greens of various kinds in the mountains and fields. The picked greens are being prepared as side dishes for troops. Anyone who fails to meet the allotted amount for the greens are being forced to make cash contributions to the authorities, according to the source in the country's North Hamgyong Province.

The source told the media outlet the mobilization campaign ended on June 20 after it began on May 10, adding that during the period some medicinal herbs were accepted in the place of wild greens.Another source from the country's Ryanggang Province said the North Korean residents cannot hide their dismay and indignation over the mobilization of the people after Kim Jong-un took power at the end of 2011. The incumbent leader assumed control after the sudden death of his father Kim Jong-il.Recently, North Korea has called on the nation to secure self-sufficiency in food as the international community moves to impose stiffer sanctions on the country for its nuclear provocations. (Yonhap)